Wife’s Suicide Attempt Burns Couple Severely

Distraught over her declining health, a woman doused her sleeping husband with boiling water and then set herself on fire early Saturday, authorities said.

Phuc Nguyen, 66, and her 74-year-old husband, To Hoang, survived, but were in critical condition with severe burns Saturday as their children and neighbors grappled with the bizarre incident. Nguyen left a suicide note in Vietnamese that said she was too sick to continue living and wanted to take her husband with her, officials said.

Nguyen’s children said she was suffering from high blood pressure and had been hospitalized last month. Since her release several weeks ago, she has been weak, depressed and afraid of dying, relatives and neighbors said.

Police and fire investigators believe that Nguyen dumped a pot of boiling water on her husband’s head while he lay in bed. Having previously doused her head and shoulders with rubbing alcohol and lighter fluid, Nguyen struck a match and set herself ablaze, said Westminster Fire Marshal Don Herr.

Awakened by the scalding water, Hoang extinguished the flames on his wife’s body, Herr said. At 3:50 a.m., one of them called 911.

When police arrived, they discovered Nguyen and Hoang--both badly burned--sitting on the couch, talking. Paramedics arrived about 15 minutes later.

The couple remained in critical condition Saturday night at the burn unit at UC Irvine’s Medical Center in Orange, police said.

Married for 47 years, the couple have seven children and 11 grandchildren.