CARSON : Man, 66, Shoots Terminally Ill Wife, Kills Himself

An ailing 66-year-old man concerned that his terminally ill 62-year-old wife might outlive him shot her and then killed himself inside the couple’s Carson home, sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies discovered the bodies about 10:30 a.m. Thursday when neighbors, concerned that they had not seen the couple in three days, asked officials to check their house in the 23300 block of South Anchor Avenue, Deputy Jeff Cannon said. Deputies discovered the dead woman in a recliner with her husband on the floor beside her. A note left by the husband said he had fallen ill and feared that his wife, who was dying of cancer, might outlive him, leaving no one to care for her, Cannon said.

The woman, who would have celebrated her 63rd birthday today, held a bouquet that her husband apparently had given her just before he killed her. Their identities were being withheld until relatives could be notified.