A man who shot his wife dead in her care home also had plans to shoot his sister who lived in the same home, a court has heard.

Ronald King, 87, told Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday he shot Rita King in the open lounge of De La Mer House in Naze Park Road, Walton-on-the-Naze, to get the home closed down.

King, of Cedar Close in the town, has admitted shooting but denies murdering his wife on the morning of December 28 last year.

He told the jury of five men and seven women that when he took the loaded revolver to the home it had three rounds in it – adding he “did not know” where the fourth round was, mentioned in the ballistics report.

He said: “There was one for Eileen [his sister], one for my wife and the other for me.

“Eileen is a living corpse. She is on a big bed and they wheel her out and she’s there all day.

“She’s on morphine and is 92. It would have been a blessing really.”

King alleged the care home drugged residents in their morning tea to get them to sleep and that things got stolen, and told the court he shot his wife in a public room to get the home closed down.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, put it to King that he could have continued to “brighten her day”, and asked why he did not shoot his wife in her room to give her some dignity.

“Yes, then at Christmas time she said ‘I’ve had enough’,” King replied.

“I did not even think about shooting her in her room.”

King described his Christmas at the home, including playing bingo on Boxing Day and the Christmas lunch.

He said Mrs King, 81, told him “it was the worst Christmas she’d ever had”, to which he replied: “I can’t do nothing much about it.”

King said the final straw in deciding to kill his wife was when she messed herself on Boxing Day, which made him “angry”.

“I was going to finish us both. I’d had enough by then,” he added.

Jurors had already heard Mrs King was doubly incontinent because of her dementia.

King said he still missed his wife and has her ashes to be mixed with his.

The court also heard more detail about the shooting from King.

In the bag carrying the gun – which King carried around all the time to prevent someone finding the weapon – King had a picture from the couple’s wedding day, which he showed her.

King said: “She shouted ‘Don’t leave me’, and I said ‘I could never leave you’.

“That’s when I picked the gun up, and said ‘We will always be together’.

“I pointed the gun at her and she smiled at me, and that’s when I fired the gun.

“I bent down and kissed her on the lips. Then I knew she was at peace.”

King said he then tried to shoot himself, but struggled to find the trigger after turning the gun round, especially once his glasses steamed up with tears.

After sitting and trying twice, he then went out, when he was helped by care home staff.

He asked one of them to help him get the gun working.

The trial is expected to last into next week.

King has admitted possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition.

The trial continues on Monday.