Santaquin nurse sentenced to prison for helping friend die by insulin overdose

PROVO — Meggan Sundwall apologized Monday to the family of the woman she was found guilty of killing, saying her friend would still be alive if it weren't for her actions.

"I wish I could take it back," she said, standing in the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit with her hands cuffed.

"(Kacee Terry) was loved by so many, I think even more than she realized, friends, family, co-workers, associates. ... Whether I believed that she was suffering so immensely or not, encouraging and supporting her in committing suicide is morally wrong, and I'm so sorry," she said.

Terry, 38, of Highland, was found unresponsive by her uncle in her bedroom on Aug. 12, 2024, following an insulin overdose. Sundwall and Sundwall's parents were in the room with her, and Sundwall discouraged calling 911. Terry was hospitalized in a diabetic coma and later taken off life support.

Fourth District Judge Sean Petersen sentenced Sundwall, 49, to a term of one to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and zero to five years for obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony. Petersen ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.

"I'm not sure how a person gets to the point that you did with your best friend," he told Sundwall, saying their relationship seemed "extremely dysfunctional."

The judge said Sundwall's life before this seemed to be full of service to others, and it is unfortunate that she lost sight of that. He said the pain Terry faced was "due in large part" to Sundwall's actions and choices.

"This is a tragedy that never needed to happen, it just didn't," he said.

The Santaquin nurse was initially charged with aggravated murder, but a jury found her guilty instead of the lesser manslaughter charge on March 24. Prosecutors argued Sundwall was in control when Terry overdosed on insulin, and believed she would benefit from a seven-figure life insurance policy. Sundwall's attorney, however, argued that there was no proof Sundwall administered any of the insulin to Terry and that it could instead be suicide.

'Only saw the dollar signs'

Kylee Clark brought a poster with a collection of pictures of her little sister to the courthouse for the sentencing and shared thoughts and memories of her sister and best friend. She believes the defense made her sister look horrible during the trial, and said her sister did not deserve that "disrespect."

Most people in the full courtroom, whether there to support Sundwall or Terry, knew and cared about both of them, she said.

"This day should have never happened. You had so many opportunities to do the right thing," Clark told Sundwall. "You do not deserve to call her a friend, and especially not a sister."

Clark said after encouraging, supplying and offering insulin multiple times over the course of years, Sundwall watched her sister die for hours while she was in pain, canceling a dinner plan to make sure she did not survive. Without Sundwall's help, she said her sister had a good chance of still being alive.

The thought of what her sister went through haunts her daily, and she hopes Sundwall relives those memories, too.

Sundwall believed Terry had a life insurance policy where she was the beneficiary, and texts showed Sundwall reached out to Terry to verify that it existed, according to prosecutors. Clark said Sundwall also reached out to her to ask, and she told her the policy did not exist, but said Sundwall "chose not to listen."

"Money is evil, and she only saw the dollar signs. Meggan took advantage of someone that was mentally broken, somebody that only wanted to be loved. ... I'm sad that my sister was broken enough to consider her a friend, because that's not something that friends do to each other, and the fact that anyone could put a price tag on a friendship and someone's life is disgusting," Clark said.

She asked for the maximum sentence possible.

Justice or mercy

Deputy Utah County attorney Lauren Hunt said the case is one of the most severe cases of manslaughter, citing a prolonged involvement and financial motivations. She said Sundwall's actions were active, not passive.

"This was not mercy, this was prolonged encouragement and facilitation. This was not a moment … this was a multiyear pattern," she told the judge.

Sundwall was with Terry for 10 to 12 hours that day — much of which Terry was unconscious for — but she did not provide help, Hunt said. Instead, Sundwall was searching for flights and beach vacations while Terry was suffering and drowning in her own fluids. According to Hunt, Sundwall interfered with allowing any rescue, falsely claiming she had a "do not resuscitate" document.

As a nurse, Hunt said Sundwall would have known that Terry was not actually sick as she had claimed and should have helped her seek therapy when she talked about suicide.

Hunt said Sundwall "manufactured remorse" and only took accountability when she was forced to. She requested consecutive sentences for Sundwall, saying "justice in this case demands a prison sentence."

Sundwall's attorney, Scott Williams, asked the judge to sentence Sundwall instead to probation or probation with some additional time in jail. He said Sundwall does not need deterrence based on the decision jurors made to find her guilty of manslaughter.

He said, like others, Sundwall and her family also deserve mercy. Specifically, he said she is a mother, and studies show there is devastation from prolonged incarceration of parents who have children the age of her son.

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