A 77-year-old Italian burst into a hospital ward where his wife was being treated for Alzheimer's disease today and killed her with three gunshots because he "couldn't stand seeing her suffering", he told police.
The man, whose name was not given by police, shot his 82-year-old wife in the face and heart in full view of other patients and staff in the hospital in the Tuscan city of Prato and was arrested immediately.
It was not clear what charges he would face.
The woman had been suffering for eight years from the illness, which affects elderly people and brings on dementia, and had been admitted to hospital earlier in the week, police said.