'Mercy Killing' Thought to be Motive Behind Double Murder After Man Kills Wife, Sister
A man in California was arrested after he killed two relatives in what is thought to have been "mercy killings."
Police were called to respond to a shooting at the Country Villa Sheraton Nursing Home in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning and when they arrived found 58-year-old Lisa Nave dead in her bed with a single gunshot to her head.
Waiting on the patio of the room was her 60-year-old brother, Lance Holger Anderson, who police said surrendered without further incident.
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"He gave up without any problems at all," LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon told NBC, adding that no other person at the facility was hurt.
When family of Nave was contacted by police and told what had happened they grew concerned for Anderson's wife who had also been suffering from symptoms of dementia, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"The family called the sheriff in Santa Clarita to conduct a welfare check, and responding deputies did find a dead woman, presumed to be Lance's wife," Vernon told reporters outside the nursing home. "The assumption there is that he killed her, then came here and killed his sister,"
He added that the killings appeared to be "mercy killings at least from my standpoint," but added that the suspect did not describe his actions in such a way.
Nave had been at Country Villa since 2008 after she came out of a coma four years ago, however, she required around-the-clock care.
When asked by reporters staff at the nursing home declined to talk about the shooting insisting that it was a tragic incident but not a common occurrence.
"Everything is safe now," Maryvic Corder, an employee in the home's business office who was in the building when it happened, told NBC.
The nursing staff was telling patients about the incident and areas of the 138-bed facility were roped off in order for police to complete their investigation, Corder added.
