Representational image. (Thinkstock)
In a gruesome incident, a 100-year-old man has killed his sleeping wife with an axe, before fatally cutting himself to death with a knife in the US state of New Jersey.
Investigators are still trying to determine why the centenarian killed his 88-year-old wife with a knife while she was sleeping in a grisly murder-suicide, authorities said on Monday.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L Molinelli said Michael Juskin killed his wife Rosalia on Sunday night with an axe on the first floor of the home. He then went to the bathroom and took his own life with a knife, the NJ.com reported.
Molinelli noted a history of domestic issues between the elderly Elmwood Park couple but said a motive has not yet been determined in the alleged murder-suicide.
Police discovered the bodies yesterday morning after receiving a call from a family member, authorities said.
Family members who were present at the scene declined to comment.
Michael appeared more spry than his 100 years would suggest. He was often spotted walking around the neighbourhood while his wife tended to the garden, neighbours were quoted as saying by NJ.com.
The Sunday night incident marks the third murder-suicide in recent months in New Jersey.