BUCKEYE, Ariz. — A 69-year-old Buckeye woman is dead and her 72-year-old husband is in jail, charged with killing her.
The shooting happened on Thursday afternoon when Buckeye police say John Elwyn Smith called 911 to say he had shot his wife while she was taking a nap, and that she was not breathing.
He told the dispatcher that he was going to kill himself as well.
Smith said they were elderly and their health and financial issues had become a burden for them.
When police arrived at his home, Smith was waiting outside unarmed. Officers found his wife on their bed with gunshot wounds. Rescue crews said she died in the home.
Smith was taken into custody and admitted to killing her. He was booked into the Maricopa County 4th Avenue Jail on one count of first-degree murder.
