May 2, 1944
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Royal Australian Air Force officer Maurice Ruben John Anderson shots and kills his wife before committing suicide with the same gun
From The Canberra Times, May 4, 1944:
WAVERLEY TRAGEDY
Suicide After Murder
SYDNEY, Wednesday.
An R.A.A.F. officer and his wife were found dead in an apartment house at Waverley to-night. The victims were Pilot-Officer Maurice Ruben John Anderson, 40, and his wife, Alice Cabella Anderson, 36.
The police consider that death had taken place some 24 hours earlier. The discovery was made by another tenant looking through a window and seeing blood on the flloor. The police were advised and on forcing the window they discovered the body of Mrs. Anderson lying on a bed with her husband’s body across her. A revolver was on the floor beside her.
The police believe that Anderson apparently shot his wife while she was sitting on a chair and when she got up and struggled toward a wall Anderson carried her to the bed and then shot himself.
They had occupied the apartment for about three weeks.
The police could find no motive for the tragedy.
Photo credit: The Historic Houses Trust
