A 67-year-old man in Taiwan smothered his wife to death and told the nurses from the hospital that his wife was "finally free" from her pain, United Daily News reported.

The uxoricide occured on Sep. 5 at around 8pm in Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.

Wife had been bedridden for more than 30 years

The man, whose name is Tsai Wan-liang, had been taking care of his wife for more than 30 years after she became immobile. She had suffered seven strokes previously.

Tsai had reportedly heard his wife screaming in pain as she bled from her hand while trying to get the IV tube off her.

She had been hospitalised for treatment after she got urethritis (inflammation of the urethra) and became feverish.

Unable to bear watching his wife suffer, he suffocated her by pinching her nose and covering her mouth using a plastic packaging used to contain tissue paper.

After he released her grip on her and saw that she had little sign of life left, he quickly ran to the nurses' station and said while crying: "My wife is finally free! My wife is dead!"

Hospital staff then immediately rushed into his wife's room and called for emergency medical attention.

They contacted the police as well, who brought Tsai back for questioning at around 12am.

Unfortunately, his wife passed away despite five days of emergency treatment.

Her cause of death was assessed to be cerebral hypoxia (brain damage due to a lack of oxygen), inflammation of the kidney, kidney abscess, and pneumonia.

Tended to his wife by himself

During questioning, Tsai said that after getting hospitalised, his wife had had a difficult stay.

Nurses reportedly had difficulty drawing blood from her, and the discomfort she endured was so unbearable that she groaned from the pain.

Tsai said he tended to her constantly, including helping her change her diapers, but killed her as he could not bear to see her continuous suffering.

He was the only one taking care of her during that time as the private nurse he hired was away on leave.

The couple has a son, but he had been away for work in the past years.

The prosecutor dealing with the case asked for a lighter sentence, citing the circumstances surrounding Tsai, his lack of sleep from taking care of his wife, and the "good attitude" he displayed after committing the crime.

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