Sometimes someone will decide to take their end-of-life situation into their own hands, and as voluntary euthanasia still isn't legal in the US they turn to drastic measures. In Pennsylvania, a 90-year-old husband has shot first his wife and then himself in what appears to be a murder-suicide.
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The reasons for the murder-suicide are still unclear. The husband was able to get into his wife's apartment in the Manatawny Manor Retirement Home on Old Schuylkill Road because he was known there. He entered his wife's room and shot her, before turning the gun on himself. He didn't immediately die on the scene.
When asked about the safety of staff and the conditions of the care home apartments, Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said, "The nursing home here has done everything in their power. And continues to provide resources to their staff members, provide resources to people who are living in the facility."
The 90-year-old murder-suicide is being treated as an isolated incident. Staff and residents, although shaken up, are not in any further danger. This was simply a single man who decided to take the life of his elderly wife and himself.
Was The 90-Year-Old Murder-Suicide an Act of Mercy?
Voluntary euthanasia is a growing topic in several countries. Some believe that rather than having to wait out their days, choice should be given. For people who live in chronic pain or vegetative states, the option to die peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, rather than suffer, is a humane option.
For many, the idea of wasting away, alone, and in a care home is an image of hell. Some choose to check out on their own terms, rather than live in a retirement community. Whether this is the case with the Philadelphia 90-year-old man's murder-suicide is uncertain.
Although the 90-year-old man was unsuccessful in killing himself immediately after his wife, he later died of sustained injuries. With him go the possibilities of finding out his motive or what drove him to take his life and that of his wife.
