Accused of mercy slaying of wife

Associated Press · December 14, 1962

John H. Best, right, 64, walks with Abington, Pa. Police Lt. Herbert Mooney in police station after Best called police and said he had killed his wife because he no longer could stand to see her suffering. The wife, 67 years old, had suffered a stroke three years ago and had been bedridden since fracturing her hip in a fall a year ago. Best, who had been married 37 years, was quoted by police as saying he struck his wife with an ax, nicked her throat twice and then held her head under water. He said he planned to take his own life but changed his mind.