An elderly Las Vegas man and his wife went to the Death Valley National Park on Friday, January 13, and never returned home. One or both of them had a plan.
Inyo County Police responded to a gruesome scene after Paul Fischer, 73, called 911 from the park and said he had just killed his wife, Mary Fischer, 72. He told the operator he was going to kill himself next and where to find the bodies.
Officers found the dead couple with a note written by Paul Fischer left in the car. He wrote that his wife suffered from chronic health conditions.
According to the FBI, one of the leading causes of domestic murder-suicides is one person wanting to relieve another person of suffering. Most victims of “mercy killing” are children and elderly adults.
Death Valley National Park is about 3.4 million acres and reaches across the California-Nevada border. With the park’s harsh conditions and temperatures, most deaths are due to medical events, car accidents, suicide, or heat exposure.
It is not known why the couple chose Death Valley National Park to spend their final moments together.
