2 February 2023
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY) — A man convicted of killing his wife with eye drops in 2018 entered a not guilty plea Wednesday on charges he set an Atrium helicopter on fire.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office confirmed Josh Hunsucker’s plea to felony arson after the man appeared in court in the morning.
Hunsucker is a former Gaston County paramedic who allegedly set fire to a syringe pump on Nov. 26, 2019, while on an Atrium Health helicopter. The act forced the pilot to land the aircraft at an Independence Boulevard car dealership.
The arrest came as he was waiting for trial on charges of killing his wife, Stacy Robinson Hunsucker, in July 2018.
Authorities charged Hunsucker with damaging Atrium’s property, with the man bonding out of jail. At that time, he was already out of jail on bond in Gaston County for charges of Stacy Robinson Hunsucker’s death.
Authorities charged the man in 2021 over the helicopter vandalism.
In January 2022, the judge in the wife’s fatal murder case granted a gag order with an undetermined trial date. The local and national attention surrounding the case spurred the decision. Hunsucker’s attorney, David Teddy, referenced a North Carolina Department of Insurance commissioner’s interview with a national television program to the judge.
Authorities changed Stacy Robinson Hunsucker’s death certificate from heart attack to homicide in July 2020. The change allowed her family to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Josh Hunsucker.
Josh Hunsucker allegedly killed his wife to collect a $250,000 insurance payout and be with his mistress.