Nelson and Evelyn Harvey spent the last 65 years of their lives together and for the last nine years, the couple had been living in a retirement home in El Paso, Texas as Evelyn fought a terminal illness.
On Saturday night, Nelson (91) allegedly shot and killed his wife (93) because he was tired of her suffering, as reported by El Paso Times .
At an early morning routine check, a home healthcare worker met Nelson, who told the worker that Evelyn had passed away but did not provide any details. The worker left under the impression that the woman had died in her sleep from her illness.
Approximately three hours later a supervisor went to the room to find Nelson sleeping on the couch and discovered a gunshot wound to the back of Evelyn’s head. When they woke him up, he “informed them that the victim had died during the course of the night and made reference that he was tired of her suffering so her shot her”, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, the staff then asked Nelson Harvey if he had a gun, to which he responded by walking over to a drawer in his room, taking out a handgun and handing it over to the authorities.
Records state that Nelson Harvey allegedly told police investigators that he had shot his wife in the back of the head with a handgun. The shooting occurred between 9 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, police stated.
Harvey was arrested by El Paso police on suspicion of murder and was jailed under a $25,000 bond.
I suppose this only goes to show how sometimes, love will drive you to incomprehensible extremes. And once again, the Harveys’ story brings us face-to-face with the long debated question over assisted deaths in the context of long and painful illnesses.
Featured Image used for representational purposes only.