An 80-year-old man shot and killed his 82-year-old wife in Athens yesterday before taking his own life as a means of freeing themselves from their serious health problems, according to police.

The husband, a retired architect, killed his wife with a single gunshot to the forehead at their two-story home in Kifissia, northern Athens, at around 3.30 p.m.

The woman, who had been bedridden for the last few years, is believed to have died instantly.

The man then used the same weapon, a revolver, to kill himself with a gunshot to the head.

Police said a note had been left behind by the husband in a bid to explain his actions to family and friends.

The note said that the two of them could no longer put up with the pain from their illnesses and that this was a method of freeing themselves from their problems.

Police did not give any details of the health problems the two elderly citizens suffered.