Man Jumps To Death After Beating Wife With Hammer

"SEATTLE, WA - A 74-year-old man brutally beat his 75-year-old wife with a hammer late Thursday night, leaving her with deadly injuries before jumping to his own death, Seattle police report.

"`No! No! No!` a caller to 911 reported hearing a woman scream. The caller heard a thumping sound, no more from the woman and more thumping, according to police.

"Officers responded at 10:15 p.m to the high-rise apartment building in the 2400 block of Northwest 57th Street.

"Officers who arrived were told about a body outside the complex. The 74-year-old man was found on concrete. He was holding a hammer, police said.

"Officers kicked in the door to find the woman on the bloody floor near a window.

"The screen had been pushed out of the sixth-floor apartment. The Seattle Housing Authority runs the complex, which is called Ballard House.

"Firefighters treated the woman, then rushed her to Harborview Medical Center, where she died.

"Investigators believe the two were in an argument when the man began to beat her with the hammer, according to initial reports. Police say he used the hammer and possibly other items, leaving her mortally wounded.

"Police say the man committed suicide by jumping from the south windows of their apartment, which face 25th Avenue Northwest."

From seattlepi.com...