DALLAS - By all accounts 83-year-old James Roberson was a loving husband to his bedridden wife of 60 years — washing her, brushing her hair and spoon-feeding her each day.

But as lung and brain cancer consumed his body, police and neighbors say, the thought of life without 83-year-old Mary Roberson was too much to bear.

The retired phone company employee mustered his strength and fatally shot his wife in the torso as she lay in bed last week. He then tried to kill himself, but apparently couldn't pull the trigger, police said.

"It is a very sad case," said Sgt. Gene Reyes of the police homicide unit. "Either he didn't want her to be in a nursing home or he just didn't want her to be without him."

The Dallas County District Attorney's Office said it was too early to say whether they will pursue the case, but Roberson is expected to live just a few more months.

The frail man declined to comment Wednesday as he was released from jail on $2,500 bond — a very low amount for a murder charge. He was arrested at home when his wife's body was discovered by a caretaker.

His daughter Sarah Roberson said nothing as she helped him leave the jail.

"I don't expect this to go anywhere," Reyes said. "By the time this makes it to court, he will probably be dead."

James Ellor, head of the center for Gerontological Studies at Baylor University's School of Social Work, said cases like the Robersons' are not uncommon.

Many old and sick people consider killing themselves and dying with their spouses, but few go through with it, Ellor said.

Roberson tended to his wife through a series of strokes that left her paralyzed on one side.

"They had complete adoration for each other," said Graham Klinefelter, a friend of the couple. "They were never apart, ever."