MADISON, Wis. — A former Wisconsin sheriff’s deputy who killed his wife and sister-in-law but was found not legally responsible because of his ailing health died Tuesday, his defense attorney said.

Attorney Jessa Nicholson Goetz, who represented ex-deputy Andrew Steele during his trial, said the 42-year-old died at UW Hospital in Madison of complications from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Steele had been at the hospital for about a week and was having trouble breathing because of his disease, Nicholson Goetz said.