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Sam Penrod reportingFamily members of murder suspect David Ragsdale on Wednesday proclaimed they believe he is innocent of the murder of his estranged wife, Kristy. They believe he was under the influence of antidepressants, which clouded his judgment and led him to kill his wife.
Through his sister, David Ragsdale issued a public apology for killing his wife on Jan. 6, saying, "Words cannot describe how incredibly sorry I am for the death of my wife Kristy." But at the same time, he appears ready to fight the murder charges against him, claiming he was on numerous medications, including antidepressants, when he shot his wife.
David Ragsdale had split with his wife Kristy several weeks before she was gunned down while going to church. Now his older sister believes the medications and the nurse practitioner who prescribed them are to blame.
Tamara Ragsdale, David's sister, said, "She was writing him different prescriptions. He was on Paxil, Doxopine, Ritalin, Provigil; two of those are speeds, two are antidepressants, and he was on two forms of testosterone. He was having severe, adverse reactions before the shooting, blacking out and that sort of activity."
According to Tamara, David tried to see that nurse practitioner because of the side effects, but the shooting happened before his appointment. "Some of them he had been on for a year or so and others just a couple of months. And, ironically, Kristy is the one who was seeing this nurse practitioner first and pretty much pressured David into going in to this nurse practitioner and putting his faith and trust in her. This nurse practitioner also does marriage counseling," Tamara said.
She insists her family is going public to prevent other acts of violence that could be tied to drug use. "I do know that Kristy was on antidepressants and several medications also. And I think a lot of us nowadays try to fix all our problems in life with a prescription. And I think when people aren't happy, they tend to go to the doctor, and they ask their spouse to go and think there is going to be a magic pill that is going to fix something."
Ragsdale's sister would not identify the nurse practitioner who prescribed the medications. But she did say her family is planning legal action against her. Whether this argument of the medications will prove to be a valid defense will be decided when the case returns to court next month.
