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Last update - 04:48 21/01/2008 Holocaust survivor kills wife in botched suicide pact By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel, Holocaust survivors  When Miklos and Kathleen Gal of Nahariya decided to end their lives, they thought of everything. "The gas, electricity, telephone and water must be disconnected, the refrigerator must be emptied and coffins must be ordered," the 84-year-old Holocaust survivors wrote in a suicide letter. But Miklos survived his suicide attempt and is now suspected of murdering his wife. Last Wednesday their son came to their home and found them inside. Kathleen, who was in the bedroom, was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. Miklos, who was in the kitchen, was admitted to Western Galilee Hospital in serious condition. They had both taken pills. In the apartment were letters in which the couple explained that they had decided to kill themselves due to their poor health and their desire not to become a burden on their family. Advertisement "We decided not to continue living.... At our age we cannot expect to have better times and fighting the inevitable will only lead to unnecessary suffering and humiliation," they wrote. The police detectives who arrived on the scene discovered that Kathleen had been shot in the mouth, and they submitted her body for autopsy. The postmortem revealed that she had been shot after swallowing the pills. Her husband was placed under guard at the hospital. On Sunday he admitted that he had shot his wife after they both swallowed a large number of pills. Gal's attorney, Moshe Gilad, explained that his client wanted to spare his wife needless suffering and that he had planned to shoot himself as well but passed out before he could do so. Gilad said the couple had been together for over 60 years. "They met while they were still children and they went through the Holocaust together. They were in three different concentration camps and afterward they decided to marry. They had two children," Gilad said. In the letters they left behind they asked to be buried next to each other, in a simple funeral ceremony, and for their headstone to be a plain one. They also left suggestions for other arrangements, such as burial in a nearby kibbutz in the event that plots were not available in the Nahariya cemetery, as well as the possibility of cremation. Kathleen Gal was buried on Sunday. "We need a few days to digest what happened," a female family member said Sunday. The police are working to complete their investigation and submit the case to the prosecution, which will decide whether or not to charge Miklos Gal in his wife's death. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Vision of cooperation Saudi prince says if Israel leaves Arab land, it could join the Arab world. At odds with PM Bolton says the final IDF op in Lebanon had no impact on UN truce talks.   1.   euthanasia 10:58  |  Dror 21/01/08   2.   Where is the money collected by the state gone? 12:12  |  Haim 21/01/08

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