Coroner Agrees Couple Died in Murder-Suicide : Elderly: Pastor and Leisure World neighbors say man ‘very faithfully’ nursed long-ailing wife before ending their lives.

An elderly, churchgoing man who could no longer face the prospect of his beloved wife’s prolonged illness first took her life and then his own, according to a coroner’s report issued Wednesday.

Julian A. Joas, 87, and his wife, Gunda F. Joas, 88, were found dead of gunshot wounds to the chest in the same bedroom of their second-story, two-bedroom apartment in Leisure World on Tuesday morning. His .38-caliber handgun and a note explaining his decision to end their lives were found nearby, said Lt. Dick Olson of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The couple were found about 10 a.m. Tuesday by Leisure World security officials responding to a call from their son-in-law, Dr. George Fiedler, a physician from Columbia, Tenn., who was concerned that he could not reach them on the phone.

“They had died not long before they were found,” Olson said. “This is being pursued as a murder-suicide.”

The Joas, who had lived in that apartment for 10 years, were longtime, faithful members of the congregation, church council and the choir of the Lutheran Church of the Cross in Leisure World. Services are pending, but prayers for the Joas were said at a Bible study Wednesday night and will again be heard on Sunday, said the Rev. Bill Bartlett.

“It was a tragedy of human nature,” Bartlett said. “He was very, very faithful at her side--far, far beyond what most people would do.”

Gunda Joas, the daughter of a Lutheran minister, had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and had fallen and injured her back recently, adding further to her dependence on her husband, Bartlett said. Julian Joas, who had undergone open-heart surgery this year, had come to the church during the past few weeks seeking someone to care for his wife while he visited his daughter, Julie, in Tennessee. Bartlett said.

“He was a rock, absolutely without complaining, in his ongoing care and love,” Bartlett said. “Ultimately, it turned out not to be enough.”

The couple also had a son, Dr. Thomas Joas, an anesthesiologist, from San Diego, and a grandson who is a physician.

Julian Joas was last seen by neighbors on Monday morning, carrying shopping bags up the steps to their apartment, said a downstairs neighbor. He was known in the neighborhood as a good cook and a punctual, impeccably dressed man who lived by strict habits, the neighbor said.

“He seemed fine, calm and relaxed, but he was not the type of person who would ever complain,” said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. “He was always helpful to all of us and anyone else who needed anything.”

Julian Joas was a member of the Laguna Hills Kiwanis and Gunda Joas used to knit sweaters for the children of the club members, the neighbor said.

“One day she called me to come over and she had 34 sweaters laid out all over the sofas and chairs,” the neighbor said. “They were a lovely couple, but then she got sick.”

His friends suggested he put his wife in a nursing home, but Julian Joas would not hear of it, said the neighbor.

When the couple were found, Gunda Joas was sitting up and Julian Joas was lying on the floor. The handgun, registered to Julian Joas in 1991, was on the floor nearby.

The note, which was apparently not addressed to anyone in particular, “made a reference to some longstanding illness . . . and poor health,” said an official.