Donald McNeely, a Bothell man accused of killing his wife, was released without bail from Snohomish County Jail on Friday.

Everett District Judge Tam Bui said the 54-year-old was not a flight risk or a threat. According to court documents and TV news reports, McNeely told detectives that his wife, Linda, 52, suffered from untreatable brain cancer and had asked him to kill her.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office reported that Donald McNeely called 911 and said he shot his wife at about 3 p.m. last Wednesday afternoon. He was arrested after deputies responded to the 1100 block of 202nd Street Southeast and found Linda McNeely dead inside under a blanket. Donald McNeely voluntarily surrendered to police and walked out of his home with his two adult children — a male age 21 and a female age 25 — by his side, court documents say. The children drove past patrol units and ran into the house shortly beforehand.

One of the deputies on the scene noted, in court documents, that the younger child told him that his mother had been diagnosed with brain cancer a few years ago and that his father was caring for her. The man noted to the deputy that he guessed his father had reached his limit, documents state.

In an interview with one of the deputies, according to documents, Donald McNeely said his wife had previously asked him to shoot her. On Wednesday afternoon, McNeely said, while his wife was sleeping on the couch, he got his gun and sat next to her for approximately two hours.

McNeely’s daughter said in an interview with a detective that her father called on her cell phone Wednesday afternoon and said that he was sorry and that he loved her. Also in court documents, that daughter explained that approximately four months ago, she heard her mother ask her father to shoot her. The daughter told her father not to do it.

Donald McNeely appeared in court on Thursday and was held on $500,000 bail in Snohomish County Jail.

After conducting a search, one of the detectives noted that Donald McNeely had a current concealed pistol license issued to him that expires in 2016, according to documents. McNeely has five guns in total registered to him.