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San Francisco (dpa) - A woman aged 106 has died in the United States in a suicide pact with her 30-year-old Filipino caregiver, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.
The report said that the bodies of Helen Godet and her caretaker of nine years, David Lund, were found Friday and that they had left signed suicide notes.
The notes indicated that Lund had strangled the childless widow when she decided she could not take her own life, then swallowed a fatal dose of antifreeze, police said.
"She was supposed to drink the poison, but she could not do it," said Inspector Dennis Maffei. "She did sign a suicide note - it said that she wanted to kill herself... It was just time.''
Friends and neighbours described the couple as "inseparable" but stressed that the relationship was platonic.
"The two of them had a very long relationship and cared mutually for each other," said Sima Dahi, who often visited Godet. "It's one of those mysteries of life. Some people dedicate their life to helping each other."
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
