A RETIRED Italian traffic warden who shot dead his wife "out of love" as she lay in hospital because she was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease was last night in police custody.
Vitangelo Bini, 77, shot his wife, Mara Tani, 82, twice in the head and once in the chest after spending several minutes stroking her face and head and whispering to her, shocked witnesses said.
As he was led away in tears by police, Bini sobbed:
"I did it to put an end to her suffering. I did it out of love."
The drama happened during visiting hours at Prato hospital, near Florence, and last night Bini was in police custody after being spoken to at length by detectives and a psychologist.
Medical staff on the ward where Ms Tani had been treated for eight years said he had spent "ten or 15 minutes" stroking and tenderly speaking to his wife before covering her head with a towel.
He then pulled a revolver from his pocket and fired three times, before calmly waiting for police to arrive.
A nurse said: "Doctors had told him his wife's condition was deteriorating and the end was close. She was drifting in and out of consciousness for most of the afternoon.
"He spent a few hours by her side then left and returned during the evening visiting time when again he spent about ten or 15 minutes tenderly speaking to her and stroking her face and hair.
"It was very emotional, but no-one on the ward expected him to pull out a gun and shoot his wife."
The nurse added: "There were five other patients there and their families and everyone was shocked."
Hospital staff said the victim had been suffering from Alzheimer's since 1999.
Since retiring as a traffic warden in Florence, Bini had spent all his time caring for his wife, who had slowly grown more and more incapable of looking after herself.
Yesterday, Francesco Nannucci, the chief of Prato police, said: "The man was immediately arrested when we arrived and told us that he had shot his wife out of love.
"He was very upset, but you could see that at the same time he felt he had unburdened himself of a heavy weight. Staff on the ward told us that he spent several minutes talking to her and being affectionate with her before he shot her.
"He is now in custody primarily for his own good and is being held on suspicion of murder. He will be questioned on Monday by prosecutors, who will decide how to progress with the case.''
Alzheimer's is a neuro- degenerative disease causing dementia by destroying brain cells, problems with thinking, memory and behaviour and eventually death.
It is most commonly found in people over 65, and latest estimates say that more than 14 million people in the world suffer from Alzheimer's Disease.
According to the Alzheimer's Society, there are more than 700,000 sufferers in Britain, with the number expected to rise to more than a million by 2025.
The full article contains 515 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
