# 100 year old man kills 88 year old wife with ax, then commits suicide **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328 "2015-04-10T14:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/1 "2015-04-10T14:02:17Z")
[This](http://www.northjersey.com/news/prosecutor-elmwood-park-man-100-killed-wife-with-ax-in-murder-suicide-1.1303479) happened in my neck of the woods. > [@](#): > > A 100-year-old Elmwood Park man whose family said he suffered from dementia killed his 88-year-old wife with an ax as she slept, before taking his own life with a knife, according to authorities, becoming one of the oldest people ever accused of homicide. Ya think? ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/2 "2015-04-10T14:08:58Z")
100 and done. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/3 "2015-04-10T14:14:00Z")
Must have been the last item on the bucket list. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/4 "2015-04-10T14:36:00Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Must have been the last item on the bucket list. Several buckets. It’s a sad story, but not as tragic as a 24-year-old killing a 12-year-old. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/5 "2015-04-10T14:55:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Several buckets. Can a 100 year old even hit that hard? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/6 "2015-04-10T14:59:19Z")
> [@](#): > > The Juskins often “kept to themselves,” said one neighbor, Teresa Communicates. That’s a surname that I have never seen before. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/7 "2015-04-10T15:03:48Z")
I suspect it’s pronounced something like commune-i-kot’-ayes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/8 "2015-04-10T15:15:04Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I suspect it’s pronounced something like commune-i-kot’-ayes. Was her maiden name “Fronkensteen”? ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/9 "2015-04-10T15:41:22Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Can a 100 year old even hit that hard? How hard do you need to hit an 88-year-old? /handbasket ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/10 "2015-04-10T15:49:59Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > How hard do you need to hit an 88-year-old? > > /handbasket We did briefly have an expert. /Move over, I’ll drive. I know a shortcut. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/11 "2015-04-10T16:09:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Can a 100 year old even hit that hard? As long as he can raise it about chest high, the weight of the ax does most of the work, especially against a soft target. That felt wrong to type. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/12 "2015-04-10T16:14:41Z")
I am curious as to his motivation. Was he angry at her or did he feel he could no longer take care of her? Was a note left? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/13 "2015-04-10T16:19:07Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > How hard do you need to hit an 88-year-old? > > /handbasket Need answer fast? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/14 "2015-04-10T16:28:33Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > That’s a surname that I have never seen before. The internet turns up [this](https://www.facebook.com/TeresaCommunicates) Teresa Communicates. It appears to be a professional moniker rather than her real name. Her [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/teresacommunicates/about) page mentions that she lives in New Jersey. If it’s the same one, then that is really handy. We can get her to get in touch with the axe-wielding centenarian and ask him what he was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/15 "2015-04-10T18:22:17Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Need answer fast? What, me? No. Nope. No. Certainly not, no. No. \*hides axe ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/16 "2015-04-10T18:59:06Z")
'Twas a generational misunderstanding. She liked blaring Lawrence Welk on the phonograph, he preferred cranking up Irving Berlin on the Gramophone. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/17 "2015-04-10T23:33:23Z")
We need axe control in this country. (wait, which country is this story from? i didn’t click the link) ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/18 "2015-04-11T00:45:04Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > /Move over, I’ll drive. I know a shortcut. Nooooo you missed the turn!!! This is the way to Heck. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/19 "2015-04-11T00:53:46Z")
There’s an “I’ll jest ax my wife” joke in here somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328/20 "2015-04-11T01:11:00Z")
Wonder if he’ll get life? “becoming one of the oldest people ever accused of homicide.” Of all the places I know, this may be the best place to ask ---- who is the actual record holder? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-year-old-man-kills-88-year-old-wife-with-ax-then-commits-suicide/717328.md?page=2)