Michigan Murder-Suicide: 79-Year-Old Man Kills Wife Suffering From Dementia, Then Calls 911 Before Killing Self

In a case of murder-suicide, an elderly man killed his wife and then himself at a home in Wilmot Township, Michigan, on Thursday (May 21).

Deputies with the Michigan State Police and Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home on Otsego Road in Wilmot Township, between Wolverine and Vanderbilt, after receiving a call from a man stating that he killed his wife.

“A 79-year-old male called 911 and stated he had murdered his wife and was going to kill himself,” Michigan State Police Lt. Derrick Carroll told local media.

The officers surrounded the home and attempted to make contact with anyone inside the residence. The Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team and bomb squad too joined the deputies.

The Michigan State Police troopers obtained a search warrant, following which they entered the residence and found a male and a female dead.

“The 79-year-old male and 76-year-old female were pronounced dead at the scene,” said Carroll.

Investigation revealed that the woman suffered from dementia and the husband took care of her. Their identities were not released and investigation was ongoing to find out the circumstances that led to the incident. The weapon used in the crime was also not known.

In a similar incident earlier this month, a former dentist fatally shot his ailing wife before killing himself in Madison, Wisconsin. Deputies with the Madison Police Department and the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office responded to a two-story frame house at 302 W. Decatur Street after receiving several reports of shots being fired. The officers found two people lying in a pool of blood inside the residence. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators determined that the former dentist, identified as 86-year-old J. William “Bill” Walker, shot his wife, Carolyn M. Walker, twice in the torso with a silver revolver, believed to be either a .357- or .45-caliber. He then turned the weapon on himself and fired two shots to his own torso. The motive behind the crime was not known, however, investigation revealed the woman suffered from a heart condition.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.