Elderly Couple's Dispute Over Missing Church Tithe Money Ends In Absolute Tragedy

A Tennessee man was arrested earlier this week for allegedly killing his wife during a heated dispute over missing money that he had planned to tithe to a church.

Norman Tobey McKinney, 76, approached authorities in Unicoi County on Sunday and revealed that he "believed he had just killed his wife" inside of the family him in Erwin, Tennessee.

When police arrived at the scene, they found the 81-year-old woman with a gunshot to the head. She was still alive, but efforts to save her life were unsuccessful, and she later died at a local hospital.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

McKinney was subsequently arrested on first-degree murder charges, WJHL-TV reported.

“The argument started over some tithe monies that he had that was going to go to a church and he was accusing her of stealing the money," Unicoi County Sheriff Mike Hensley told the outlet.

The sheriff went on to say that there had never been past problems with the McKinney family, and that their neighbors also never reported seeing anything out of the ordinary before the fatal shooting.

"It’s just a tragedy," Hensley said.

Unicoi County Sheriff's chief investigator Ronnie Adkins later added that McKinney believed his wife had stolen and hid the tithe, but that officers who searched the home "found no hidden collection of money."

McKinney reportedly said in an affidavit that his wife had slapped the gun before it went off. His bond was set at $300,000, as he remains in Unicoi County Jail, according to WTFR-TV.

(H/T: WJHL-TV)

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