"Money Was Running Out"

"QUEENS, NY - A Manhattan diamond merchant — who was suffering business and health problems — shot and killed his 78-year-old wife in their bed today and then turned the gun on himself, sources said.

"Police were alerted by co-workers when Morris Green, 76, failed to show up at his Fifth Avenue office.

"They went to Green’s apartment on 196th Place in Fresh Meadows, Queens, where’s he lived with his wife Charlotte for more than three decades.

"Police obtained a key from a neighbor, went inside and found the couple shot to death in their bed. A .38 caliber handgun was also found in the bed, sources said.

"Green had obtained the licensed gun because of security concerns related to his jewelry business.

"Investigators said Green’s business took a downtown along with the economy and he apparently decided to take his own life rather than face the bleak future.

"`Money was running out,` one source said.

"Investigators and neighbors also said that both Green and his wife, a writer, had serious health problems and mounting medical bills.

"But others who knew Green refused to think he had killed himself and his wife.

"`No! There was no way he could ever be involved with something like that,` said Tim Kaziu, 47, maintenance man in the Greens’ building. `He’s a wonderful man. Always joking and always laughing.`"

Source: New York Post...