John Matthews
WMAL.com
SPRINGFIELD, VA — (WMAL) A story right out of a horror movie turned reality in Fairfax County a day after Halloween.
Fairfax County police say a man beat his wife with the blunt side of an hatchet before taking his own life with a chainsaw.
Officers received a call for assault with a deadly weapon from a domestic dispute at a home on Springfield Hills Drive. When they arrived, they found a 76-year-old woman with non-life threatening injuries, and her 70-year-old husband in the home’s garage, bludgeoned by a chainsaw. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police are not releasing the suspect’s name in order to protect the identity of the victim.
Investigators say a family member arrived at the home Wednesday afternoon, and was initially unable to open the front door. When she finally shoved the door in, she saw the suspect assaulting his wife with a hatchet in the home’s foyer, and she was able to pull the victim out of the house. After the family member called 9-1-1, the man went inside the home and shut the door. Police found him in the garage, suffering from self-inflicted wounds.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Fairfax County Police Twitter)
