A 64-year-old man hung himself to death on a lime tree beside his house after allegedly murdering his wife with an axe in the early hours of Sunday in Pursat province’s Phnom Krovanh district.

Pum Mut, 64, from Phtas Rung commune’s Chrai Krem village, hacked Sem Phat, 46, with an axe several times before hanging himself, following a heated argument caused by jealousy, said district police chief Tain Kearith.

“The husband may have had an affair with his mentally unstable sister-in-law, who had been living with the couple, and the wife must have known about it,” Kearith said.

Phat was hacked on her left ear, chin, neck and some other parts of the body, according to the National Police.