17 Years of Strife,Then a Fatal Shot

They had been close friends for decades, and when they both found themselves widowed late in life, they married for companionship.

But friends and relatives say that what Ralph and Georgianna Siegel of Westchester found in marriage was a bitter battle of wills that lasted 17 years and ended Tuesday night when police say the 86-year-old husband shot and killed his 81-year-old wife during an argument.

“They had a very stormy and unhappy relationship for years. We begged them to get out of it,” said Stephen Siegel, Ralph Siegel’s son.

The couple met 30 years ago at Westchester’s Methodist Church and had always enjoyed each other’s company, he said. “But everything changed the day they got married.”

Arguments over his father’s refusal to moderate his drinking, and Georgianna’s insistence that the couple continue touring the state in their RV, even though Ralph Siegel had tired of driving, were frequent topics of argument, according to the son and friends.

“That’s what happens when you get married late in life, you get set in your ways,” said Joseph Hughes, a friend of the couple. “That’s also what happens when you keep a gun in the house.”

Police said Ralph Siegel called Tuesday evening to tell them he shot his wife because she hit him with a cane. He told dispatchers that he had placed his .22-caliber gun on his bed and would go out the back door.

But when officers arrived at the house on Westlawn Avenue, Siegel was walking down the driveway carrying the gun. Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon and raise his hands. Police said Siegel raised his hands, but kept the gun. As he continued to approach, police said, he told officers: “I shot my wife. Kill me.”

When he pointed the gun at one of the officers, police said, they shot him in the mid-torso.

Siegel was treated at County-USC Medical Center and released to police custody. On Wednesday, he was booked on suspicion of murder and held on $1 million bond.