crime

82-year-old man found dead at home; wife’s body discovered in nearby river

12 Comments

An 82-year-old man was found dead at his home in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Sunday, police said. Earlier, police found the body of his 77-year-old wife in a nearby river.

According to police, the body of Hiroyasu Fukawa was found on his bed with a cord wrapped around his neck, Fuji TV reported. Fukawa’s 19-year-old grandchild, who also lives in the house, made the discovery.

Five hours earlier, the body of Fukawa’s wife was found in the Sagami River, about 500 meters from their residence.

Street surveillance camera footage showed Fukawa’s wife riding her bike away from the house at around 5:30 a.m. The bike was found on a bridge over the river.

Police said the woman had been taking care of her husband, who had been suffering from dementia for the past 10 years, and suspect she may have killed him and then committed suicide by jumping into the river.


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12 Comments
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There's no shame in admitting you are no longer able to provide the necessary care, but murder/suicide is not a good alternative

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Heart breaking but how long until we read the same kind of story? Hours - days - weeks?

3 ( +5 / -2 )

unless you've struggled to care for someone for 3,650 days and truly believe there are no other alternatives.....

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I just read the title and knew this was the cause. The old taking care of the old with no help. Such a sad way to end things.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This poor, poor woman. What terrible pain did she go through before she performed a mercy killing of both her husband and herself? Advanced dementia is caring for a still breathing dead body and committing suicide a mercy killing for a conscience capable of 10 years of such care and finally doing the most difficult thing she has ever done in her life. If you at all seriously contemplate what she was enduring in her own soul and a tear does not come to your eye, you may fairly consider yourself an undiagnosed clinical psychopath. There is no 'moral' judgement which any mortal Human can make here. We can only hope or pray that we, ourselves, never find ourselves in such a terrible situation.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@Sensei258 - I'd had him admitted to a hospital for something, 

Yeah, in he real world that would be an option, but Japan greatly lacks in facilities to care dementia sufferers and the full burden is put on the family.

I often wonder, what percentage of suicides in Japan are related to family murders.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Why is murder/suicide so often the last resort? Before making that decision, I'd had him admitted to a hospital for something, then disappeared to enjoy the rest I deserved.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Not that I agree with what this woman did, but obviously you people posting forget what country you live in.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Folks, good luck finding space in hospitals etc for elderly & their various ailments last I heard there were about 400,000 WAITING for access.

The REALITY is Japan has CHOSEN this route & KNOWS it will push people to incredible extremes, here is the result & it will keep happening NON-STOP for decades to come.

TIJ! As I have asked many times do YOU wanna grow old in Japan?? Something to think about!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@

sensei258June 2001:46 pm JST

If you brought him to a hospital, and left him there, they would be forced to either take care of him, or to discharge him to some facility. By the time they figured out what was going on, she could empty out the bank accounts, max out the credit cards and be long gone. Or do you think that murdering him and drowning herself was the best choice?

One word mate, dignity.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If you brought him to a hospital, and left him there, they would be forced to either take care of him, or to discharge him to some facility. By the time they figured out what was going on, she could empty out the bank accounts, max out the credit cards and be long gone. Or do you think that murdering him and drowning herself was the best choice?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"There's no shame in admitting you are no longer able to provide the necessary care"

But this is Japan...

"you people posting forget what country you live in"

Yes, this is Japan!!

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

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