Motive Remains Mystery as 93-Year-Old Man Stands Trial for Wife's Murder

A 93-year-old Foster City man on Wednesday was ordered to stand trial for the murder of his wife of 70 years, prosecutors said.

Wayne Bair has been charged with murder for allegedly stabbing his wife, 90-year-old Helena Marie Bair, and then stabbing himself on June 13 in the Foster City home they shared, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Bair called 911 at 8:06 p.m. to report he was having difficulty breathing, prosecutors said. When police responded, they found him lying on the floor next to his bed with cuts to his neck. His wife was on the bed with fatal stab wounds.

He apparently had stabbed her in the neck with a large kitchen knife and then stabbed himself, prosecutors said. Bair recovered at a hospital and was later charged with murder.

Investigators are puzzled what the motive for the stabbing might be. The couple was apparently happily married for many years and had no financial or health issues.

Bair’s defense attorney, Charles Smith, said Thursday that while Bair pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, it is clear from the evidence that he stabbed his wife and then himself, but why that happened remains a mystery.

“It’s really inexplicable. He is a quality man who loved his wife and led an exemplary life and was very close to her,” Smith said.

Smith said he has mental health experts working on the case to try and determine what happened, but the couple had no history of mental health problems.

Bair remains in jail without bail as he awaits trial.

• --City News Service, photo courtesy of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department