Farmer kills, wife, son, self
2007-01-07 07:49
Graz - A family drama in the Austrian province of Styria left three people dead on Saturday, as a 67-year-old farmer from the village of Schaeffern killed his 65-year-old wife and 43-year-old son before taking his own life, reported APA news agency.
According to the man's daughter-in-law, who during the incident was hiding in the top floor of the house with her children, the farmer had been suffering from "psychological problems" and shot his wife with a pistol.
As the son heard the shots and went to "investigate", his father, an enthusiastic hunter, also shot him before turning the gun on himself.
When the daughter-in-law heard the shots, she called the farmer's daughter, who was living away from the family home.
When the daughter came to help, she found the bodies of her parents and her brother and immediately alerted the police.
The reasons for the farmer's actions were not yet known.
- SAPA