Oh gracious Adonai, this is a fierce tragedy. It happened on Poe Street, in Azle, Texas. Couldn't've chosen a better street for this terrible incident, even had it been a work of fiction. The house in which this happened is shown in the inset, above.

On 12 June 2010, Edward Carter, 68, appears to have shot his wife in the head, killing her. He then shot himself in the chest. It was the first homicide in Azle in eight years.

Edward had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, accounting, no doubt, for his desire to die more quickly. Whether Jean Elizabeth Carter, 78, was going with him into the afterlife willingly is not known (at the time of this writing). But as she had told family she was moving back to New Mexico where she lived before she married Edward thirteen years earlier, it seems the homicide/suicide may have been entirely Edward's idea. Neighbors said they frequently yelled at each other.

Alas for Edward, he failed to hit his heart. He lay wounded for quite some while, then with belated change of intent, called 911 for help. He ended up in the John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Wort where (again, as I write this) police had not yet been able to obtain a complete statement.

Before transport by helicoptor to the hopsital, Edward claimed he and his wife had been shot by an intruder. Police found this claim entirely at odds with the evidence. That Edward soon had a tracheotomy, hence unable to speak, hasn't helped in further interrogation.

Jean Carter raised chihuahuas and had eighteen of them, plus an African Grey parrot. This seems nother reason to suppose she didn't volunteer for death, or she might've first planned for her dogs' well-being.

On the other hand, some of the dogs appeared to have been neglected, so the chaos of the couples' ongoing tragedy may have left her unable to properly care for so many animals for some while before that last explosive hour.

The dogs were running helter skelter through the house. Police had to have them removed before they could pursue the forensics. The dogs were transferred to Azle Animal Shelter where workers expected to have no trouble finding new homes for them. But "Whoever gets that parrot is in for a surprise," neighbor Floy Clinton said. "That parrot barks like a dog and curses like a sailor."