Man builds suicide robot

BRISBANE, Australia, March 23 (UPI) -- An 81-year-old man in Australia reportedly killed himself by programming a robot to shoot him in the head, a published report said.

Pete Tovey downloaded the plans from the Internet because he was distressed by his family's demands that he move from his million-dollar home on the Gold Coast into a care facility, The Times of London reported Sunday.

Tovey, who was English, reportedly assembled the machine, placed himself in front of a .22 semi-automatic pistol loaded with four bullets and set the machine into motion. He was hit several times in the head, the newspaper said.

Philip Nitschke, a prominent supporter of euthanasia, said the man's suicide was extreme and bizarre.

"It is a rather violent and ultimately messy way to end one's life and there are more peaceful strategies," he said. "I would have thought most people would take the more peaceful options."