Man accused of wife's murder in traffic accident

An elderly man has been charged with the murder of his wife, who police say was found by her son with allegedly fatal wounds to her abdomen over the weekend.

At about 8.30am on Sunday, emergency services attended an address on Gordon St, Atherton, in Tropical North Queensland.

A 65-year-old woman was found with injuries to her abdomen and was declared dead at the scene.

Queensland Police on Monday revealed a 72-year-old Atherton man had been charged with murder and would appear in the Mareeba Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Detective Acting Inspector Jason Chetham told the media that the woman’s husband was found by police on Sunday afternoon after he had been involved in a traffic accident on the Byerstown Ranges.

“There had been a traffic accident,” Inspector Chetham said.

“He was found on the road there by Cooktown Police,” he said.

Inspector Chetham said the man had sustained “minor injuries”.

He said police were still investigating the nature of the woman’s death, which he said occurred “over a short period of time” shortly before 7am.

Inspector Chetham said there were “no reports of yelling or anything like that” before the alleged murder.