SnakebyteXX
03-07-2005, 05:45 AM
CORNWALL, Conn. -- Any of the dozen friends caring for John T. Welles could have been there the morning that the 66-year-old decided to take his life. Welles, a fiercely independent former Marine and inventor, had not seen a doctor in decades and did not know he had prostate cancer until three weeks before killing himself on June 11, 2004. Those caring for him said he made no secret of his plans.
Now, 74-year-old Huntington Williams is charged with manslaughter for helping fulfill his dying friend's wish. The case has galvanized residents in Connecticut's bucolic northwest corner, even though legalizing physician-assisted suicide doesn't seem on the state's horizon.
"Hunt just happened to be there at the time. I don't think anybody would have wanted to trade places with him," said Cornwall official Gordon Ridgway. "They can go beyond what happened in five minutes to realize Mr. Welles was critically ill, that it was his wish to die on his own terms and not become a vegetable, and that Hunt was there to help him."
If convicted, Williams faces up to 10 years in prison. He was next expected in court on Friday.
Though there are no statistics on assisted suicide, the issue has sparked a legal debate nationally. In the past five years, people in Michigan, Maryland, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Rhode Island have been charged with helping friends or relatives kill themselves.
In Oregon, the only state where doctor-assisted suicide is legal, 171 terminally ill people have died after taking lethal doses of medication. The Bush administration has challenged the law, which has so far been upheld by federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case.
California and Vermont also are considering measures similar to Oregon's, while Hawaii recently rejected one.
"The reality is that in most states it's not legal for a dying patient to ask their physician for assistance... and so you have these very tragic stories where the patient chooses a violent means of ending their life," said Kathryn Tucker, director of legal affairs for Oregon-based Compassion & Choices, which advocates the right of terminally ill patients to end their lives.
Many residents of Cornwall, a town of 1,300, have rallied to support Williams. Connecticut has not considered legalizing physician-assisted suicide, but a state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow probation in assisted suicide cases.
Williams' attorney, J. Michael Sconyers, said probation would be the best outcome for his client, who was "flabbergasted" to be charged with manslaughter six months after Welles death.
Barbara Welles Bartlett said her brother told her that he was "ready for the next place."
"What is so wonderful to me is that all these people came out to help John," she wrote in a letter to Sconyers. "Twenty-four-hour company and I don't for a second think that there was a one of them that didn't know just what John planned to do when he was ready. ... How can I be anything but eternally grateful to Hunt and all the rest for their love and support at a time when it was horribly needed?"
The morning Welles died, Williams relieved a friend who had spent the night with the dying man.
"John needs to do this. Are you able to do this with him?" the friend asked Williams, according to a police affidavit.
Williams, a volunteer emergency medical technician and retired high school teacher, had watched his wife, Rebecca, die of ovarian cancer a decade ago. He replied that he could "honor John's wishes."
He cleaned Welles' .38-caliber revolver and carried it outside. Smoking a pipe and leaning on a walker, Welles headed to the front yard.
The men shook hands and Williams walked down the driveway. Before Williams could say "God bless," he heard a gunshot.
"This is what John wanted," Williams told police. "I had a comfortable feeling that this was right for him, knowing the man."
But another organization that opposes euthanasia said lessening or eliminating assisted suicide penalties sets a dangerous precedent.
"Why should we have a separate standard for old, ill or disabled people who want to die?" asked Stephen Drake of the Chicago-based Not Dead Yet. "We talk about the suicides of younger people as tragedies. Why should we be sanctioning the suicides of certain people?"
------
On the Net:
Compassion in Dying: http://www.compassionindying.org
Physicians for Compassionate Care: http://www.pccef.org
link (http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/03/07/spotlight_on_assisted_suicide_in_conn/)
Now, 74-year-old Huntington Williams is charged with manslaughter for helping fulfill his dying friend's wish. The case has galvanized residents in Connecticut's bucolic northwest corner, even though legalizing physician-assisted suicide doesn't seem on the state's horizon.
"Hunt just happened to be there at the time. I don't think anybody would have wanted to trade places with him," said Cornwall official Gordon Ridgway. "They can go beyond what happened in five minutes to realize Mr. Welles was critically ill, that it was his wish to die on his own terms and not become a vegetable, and that Hunt was there to help him."
If convicted, Williams faces up to 10 years in prison. He was next expected in court on Friday.
Though there are no statistics on assisted suicide, the issue has sparked a legal debate nationally. In the past five years, people in Michigan, Maryland, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Rhode Island have been charged with helping friends or relatives kill themselves.
In Oregon, the only state where doctor-assisted suicide is legal, 171 terminally ill people have died after taking lethal doses of medication. The Bush administration has challenged the law, which has so far been upheld by federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case.
California and Vermont also are considering measures similar to Oregon's, while Hawaii recently rejected one.
"The reality is that in most states it's not legal for a dying patient to ask their physician for assistance... and so you have these very tragic stories where the patient chooses a violent means of ending their life," said Kathryn Tucker, director of legal affairs for Oregon-based Compassion & Choices, which advocates the right of terminally ill patients to end their lives.
Many residents of Cornwall, a town of 1,300, have rallied to support Williams. Connecticut has not considered legalizing physician-assisted suicide, but a state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow probation in assisted suicide cases.
Williams' attorney, J. Michael Sconyers, said probation would be the best outcome for his client, who was "flabbergasted" to be charged with manslaughter six months after Welles death.
Barbara Welles Bartlett said her brother told her that he was "ready for the next place."
"What is so wonderful to me is that all these people came out to help John," she wrote in a letter to Sconyers. "Twenty-four-hour company and I don't for a second think that there was a one of them that didn't know just what John planned to do when he was ready. ... How can I be anything but eternally grateful to Hunt and all the rest for their love and support at a time when it was horribly needed?"
The morning Welles died, Williams relieved a friend who had spent the night with the dying man.
"John needs to do this. Are you able to do this with him?" the friend asked Williams, according to a police affidavit.
Williams, a volunteer emergency medical technician and retired high school teacher, had watched his wife, Rebecca, die of ovarian cancer a decade ago. He replied that he could "honor John's wishes."
He cleaned Welles' .38-caliber revolver and carried it outside. Smoking a pipe and leaning on a walker, Welles headed to the front yard.
The men shook hands and Williams walked down the driveway. Before Williams could say "God bless," he heard a gunshot.
"This is what John wanted," Williams told police. "I had a comfortable feeling that this was right for him, knowing the man."
But another organization that opposes euthanasia said lessening or eliminating assisted suicide penalties sets a dangerous precedent.
"Why should we have a separate standard for old, ill or disabled people who want to die?" asked Stephen Drake of the Chicago-based Not Dead Yet. "We talk about the suicides of younger people as tragedies. Why should we be sanctioning the suicides of certain people?"
------
On the Net:
Compassion in Dying: http://www.compassionindying.org
Physicians for Compassionate Care: http://www.pccef.org
link (http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/03/07/spotlight_on_assisted_suicide_in_conn/)