El Cajon Man Kills Wife, Himself
An elderly man killed his wife and then shot himself to death Thursday in El Cajon, police reported.
The dead couple were identified as Orville Gladstone Meland, 90, and Ruthe Bestic Dolan Meland, 73. They lived in a mobile home on East Main Street, the coroner’s office said.
Police said they received a call just after 10 a.m. about “a problem” at the couple’s residence.
When officers arrived, they knocked on the front door but no one answered. The door was unlocked and police went inside. Orville Meland was sitting in a chair with his back to the door. He had a bullet wound in the head and was dead.
On the kitchen floor, they found Mrs. Meland covered with a blanket. She too had been shot in the head and was dead, according to police and the coroner’s office.
Police found a note apparently written by the elderly man that said the couple had been having problems, and that he had killed his wife and then was going to kill himself.
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