By Khalida Sarwari
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office today identified an elderly couple who died following an apparent murder-suicide at a home in unincorporated Santa Cruz on Friday.
Deputies responded at about 4 p.m. Friday to a report of two gravely injured people at a home in the 100 block of Sims Road, according to Deputy April Skalland.
They found a 90-year-old man, identified as Ray Wiens, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Skalland said.
His wife, 88-year-old Katherine Wiens, was found unconscious and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
She was flown to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 10:22 a.m. Saturday.
The handgun used in the shooting was recovered at the home, Skalland said.
Investigators said the couple’s deteriorating health might have been a motive for the murder-suicide.
