A retired US Army major living in Italy strangled his wife and slit his own throat after leaving a heart and letter “U” drawn in blood on his bedroom door, according to reports.
The body of Joel Bradley Kinser, 43, was discovered Monday in the bathroom of his house in Pozzoleone near Vicenza, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported. His wife, Leila Kinser, 39, was found strangled in the couple’s bed.
Investigators found a note saying “Sorry” on the bedroom door, along with the blood etchings.
A chaplain of the military complex Caserma Ederle said he knew Joel Kinser suffered from depression and had expressed suicidal thoughts.
Friends of the couple became alarmed after the pair stopped returning phone calls and alerted police.
The Carabinieri military police said the woman’s murder may date back to Easter, while her husband’s death happened later after a few failed suicide attempts, local outlets reported.
The former soldier, who was originally from Boston, retired in 2015 after serving as a strategic intelligence research officer for US Army Africa in Iraq.
Since his retirement, he’d been working as a contractor in the Army Human Resources command as part of a program that helps soldiers transition back to local communities.
His Russian-born wife posted many images of her travels around Europe on Facebook, as well as pictures of their pet turtle Mashka.
A post from Saturday evening showed a collage of her pet that read: “I don’t have any more my Mashka I want to die.”