Man Attacks Wife With Ax, Kills Self With Chainsaw After Domestic Dispute

Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, said Wednesday a 70-year-old man took his life with a chainsaw after allegedly assaulting his wife with a hatchet during a domestic dispute. Police said they received a call about an assault at around 3:30 p.m. EDT and responded immediately to the house in Springfield in 7500 block of Hills Drive to investigate, according to Fox 5 News.

According to Fairfax County police, a relative arrived at the house, but was unable to open the front door. She then pushed the door in and saw the man beating his 76-year-old wife with the blunt side of a hatchet in the foyer of their house.

"The family member was able to rescue the victim, bring her outside," Fox 5 News reported Fairfax County police officer Reem Awad as saying. "At which point, the male suspect did follow outside and a struggle ensued over that ax. 911 was called at that point and we responded."

After someone called 911, the man returned to his home and shut the door. When the police arrived, they set up a perimeter around the house after they were informed the man was inside alone.

"One officer was able to see inside the garage where the suspect was located on the floor," said Awad. "He appeared to have life-threatening injuries to the upper body. He has since died from those injuries. They appear to be caused by a chainsaw."

Police said the man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The wife, who suffered non life-threatening injuries, was also taken to the hospital.

Police have not yet confirmed the identities of both the attacker and the victim, NBC Washington reported.

"I could see that the lady was really confused and kind of like in shock, and her hands was probably injured, cut," said neighbor Zury Bradcovich. "Then I saw them finding the older gentleman and brought him to the garage, put him on the ground and he was bleeding tremendously from this part of his body. He looked really bad and they worked on him for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, and then they took him away."

Police are continuing to investigate the incident. No other information has been released.

A similar incident occurred in September this year when a man in Chalmette, Louisiana, was accused of fatally attacking his ex-wife with an ax. He also allegedly chased his former mother-in-law with the ax but failed to hurt her before she made it to safety, police said. The man faced second-degree murder charges, ABC affiliate WGNO reported.

In another incident, in March this year, a father in Melbourne, Australia, was accused of striking his estranged wife 24 times with a hatchet, as a result of which it got stuck in her skull, Daily Mail reported.