Man Charged in Wife's Suicide

A San Marcos man is in custody after his wife was found dead on the first floor of their home on Cycad Drive

A San Marcos man called his doctor Tuesday morning to report his wife was dead, possibly by asphyxiation.

By the end of the night, Alan Harris Purdy, 88, was in the custody of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department accused of aiding in a suicide,

Purdy and his wife live in the 900 block of Cycad Drive.

When deputies arrived after that call to the doctor around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, they found a woman dead on the first floor of the home.

After interviewing Purdy and collecting evidence from the home, investigators arrested the 88-year-old and booked him into Vista Jail.

“Every case is different,” said Lt. Larry Nesbit with the sheriff’s homicide unit. “We go on a combination of what the evidence at the scene shows us readily. “What witnesses have told us. What the suspect if any has told us. If we can, we come to a conclusion based on probable cause that evening on whether there will be an arrest. “

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Detail at (858) 974-2321/after hours at (858) 565-5200 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS(8477).

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