醫(yī)療的悲哀：一對付不起醫(yī)藥費的夫婦死于謀殺——自殺

一對付不起醫(yī)藥費的夫婦死于謀殺——自殺

An elderly married couple who died in an apparent murder-suicide in Washington State this week left several notes saying they could not afford medical bills that had been piling up for them in recent months, authorities said.

據(jù)有關部門介紹，美國華盛頓州一對老年夫婦本周死于一起明顯的謀殺-自殺事件，他們留下了幾張字條，上面寫著他們無力支付近幾個月來堆積如山的醫(yī)藥費。

The husband Brian Jones called police in Whatcom County soon after 8 a.m. on Wednesday and said, “I am going to shoot myself,” the local sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.

當?shù)鼐L辦公室在Facebook的一篇文章中寫道，丈夫布萊恩·瓊斯在周三早上8點剛過，就給瓦特科姆縣的警察打了電話，說：“我要自殺了。”

“We will be in the front bedroom,” the 77-year-old Jones said before hanging up the phone, authorities said.

當局說，77歲的瓊斯在掛斷電話前說：“我們會在前臥室。”

Police responded to the house and used a crisis negotiator to try to reach the couple, police said. After about an hour, they sent in a robot with a camera attached to it, which found both the man and his 76-year-old wife, Patricia Whitney-Jones, lifeless with gunshot wounds to their bodies, cops said.

警方稱，警方對這所房子做出了回應，并派出危機談判專家試圖聯(lián)系這對夫婦。警察說，大約一個小時后，他們送來了一個裝有攝像頭的機器人，發(fā)現(xiàn)這名男子和他76歲的妻子帕特麗夏·惠特尼·瓊斯都沒有生命跡象，身上有槍傷。

Police then entered the house and found several notes detailing Patricia Whitney-Jones’ ongoing medical problems and the couple’s inability to pay her bills.

警方隨后進入房子，發(fā)現(xiàn)了幾張便條，上面詳細記錄了帕特麗夏·惠特尼·瓊斯目前的醫(yī)療問題以及這對夫婦無力支付賬單的情況。

“It is very tragic that one of our senior citizens would find himself in such desperate circumstances where he felt murder and suicide were the only option. Help is always available with a call to 9-1-1,” Sheriff Bill Elfo said in a statement after the incident.

“非常悲慘的是，我們的一名老年人發(fā)現(xiàn)自己處于如此絕望的境地，他認為謀殺和自殺是唯一的選擇。事故發(fā)生后，警長比爾·埃爾福在一份聲明中說:“只要撥打911，我們隨時可以提供幫助。”

Two unharmed dogs were also found in the house and were turned over to the Humane Society, cops said.

警察表示，在房子里還發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩條未受傷的狗，并已移交給了動物保護協(xié)會。