Maybe the man thought it made a better story, which might help build some kind of Wagnerian legend around him in the future.

"Liebestod (German, "Love death") is the title of the final, dramatic aria from the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner. When used as a literary term, liebestod (from German Liebe, love and tod, death) refers to the theme of erotic death or "love death" meaning the two lovers' consummation of their love in death or after death.