A Hudson, Wis., man has been charged with killing his wife in their townhome Wednesday and then threatening to end his life by making officers shoot him.

Before the first Hudson police officers arrived at Chad Aaron Haworth’s townhome on a welfare check, the 54-year-old told dispatch how he was having issues with his wife and that officers would shoot him “because that’s how it ends,” according to charges filed Thursday in St. Croix County Circuit Court.

Haworth then told an officer over the phone that, “She’s no longer with us” and that she had been dead for a half-hour. He said he knew that because his knife is “incredibly sharp,” the charges say.

After a three-hour standoff that included the St. Croix County Emergency Response Unit, Haworth eventually left the townhome, surrendered and was arrested. He had blood on his pants and hands.

His wife was found dead on a bed with a large cut to her neck.

Haworth is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mayhem with the use of a dangerous weapon and aggravated battery intending great bodily harm.

At an initial court appearance Thursday before Judge Michael Waterman, Haworth’s attorney raised whether he was competent to face the charges. Waterman ordered that he undergo a competency evaluation.

Haworth does not have a previous criminal history in Wisconsin, court records show.

Minnesota court records show that Haworth, while living in Burnsville, was civilly committed as mentally ill in April 2022. The commitment ended six months later.

Court records show that Burnsville police were called to Haworth’s home on Christmas Day 2020 on a weapons-related incident after Haworth reported that his wife, Carmen Haworth, pulled a knife on him and he was “going to shoot her and better get here this time.” Officers arrived and spoke with his wife, and determined that no crime had been committed. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of misuse of 911 in March 2021.

According to Thursday’s complaint:

Shortly after 3 p.m., police were dispatched to Haworth’s townhome in the 1600 block of Namekagon Street just after Haworth had called 911. Dispatch advised officers that Haworth said his wife’s lover got his password for his iPhone and got rid of the statements he had made.

Haworth said his 26-year-old son is “going to be all alone,” and he was crying and worried about his cats getting out. He was yelling and was defensive, and said he had “no way out.”

Earlier in the day, just after 11 a.m., Haworth called Hudson police and told an officer that he had concerns that his wife was cheating on him and possibly poisoning him with their cats’ medicine. He said he had no evidence, that it was a hunch. He said he was going to the doctor.

“At no time during our original conversation did he make any statements causing concern for his well being or for his wife’s,” the officer wrote in the complaint.

Once the officer arrived at the townhome, he called Haworth, who blamed his wife for his iCloud account being closed. He said that when he told her about it, she laughed at him. Haworth said he “snapped” and his wife is “no longer with us.”

When the officer asked if she was still breathing, Haworth said, “she thought it was funny until it began and then she realized” and “started screaming for help,” the complaint states. “Yeah, that’s when she quit laughing. Yeah, so she was laughing at me right up until the exact moment. It’s real nice.”

Haworth refused to come out of the townhouse so officers could check on his wife, and said he had to contemplate taking his life or have the officer take it.

When the officer told Haworth that his sergeant wanted to speak with him, he said, “Well just to let you know …. It’s loaded. It’s loaded.”

Six officers decided to try to make entry into the townhome to check on Haworth’s wife. When officers knocked and announced they were coming in, Haworth yelled, “I have a gun at the door,” the complaint says. Officers moved back and took cover and waited until the emergency response unit arrived to take over.

Once in custody and at the jail, Haworth asked to see a doctor. When the doctor asked him if he had any thoughts of harming himself, he shook his head, no. When asked if he had any thoughts of harming others, Haworth, who was looking down at his legs, let out an exaggerated exhale and shook his head, no.