Elderly man kills wife, self at hospice

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ALLENTOWN, Pa., March 19 (UPI) -- An elderly Pennsylvania man shot his ailing wife to death in her room at a hospice Tuesday afternoon and then killed himself, authorities said.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Mildred Osman, 83, and Elwood Osman, 86, of Lehigh Township apparently died in a murder-suicide at the Lehigh Valley Hospital facility in Allentown, The (Easton) Express-Times reported.

The couple's bodies were found by hospital workers, who heard gunshots about 1 p.m.

The (Allentown) Morning Call reported Mildred Osman was found dead in her bed and her husband's body also was in the room. Martin said no one else was in the room, the newspaper said.

The couple's son, Thomas Osman, said his father was distraught and wanted to end his wife's suffering, The Morning Call said. The son said his mother suffered from spinal stenosis, macular degeneration and effects of a recent stroke.

"He unfortunately only saw one solution left anymore," Thomas Osman said. "And we believe he got [a] handgun and did what he did.

"This was a loving couple. I am upset, of course, but all I have is love and respect for my father and my mother."