86 year shoots wife - gets probation.

MadsL

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/30/arizona-man-86-sentenced-to-probation-after-mercy-killing-his-ailing-wife/?intcmp=obnetwork

He said his wife begged him to kill her. "I said, 'I can't do it honey,'" he told the detective. "She says, 'Yes you can.'"
Sanders then got his revolver and wrapped a towel around it so the bullet wouldn't go into the kitchen. "She says, 'Is this going to hurt?' and I said, 'You won't feel a thing,'" he said.
"She was saying, 'Do it. Do it. Do it.' And I just let it go," Sanders added.

I would like to think I would have the balls to do this for my wife in the same circumstances. The man's a hero.

Would you do it?

scudzilla

MadsL wrote: »

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/30/arizona-man-86-sentenced-to-probation-after-mercy-killing-his-ailing-wife/?intcmp=obnetwork



I would like to think I would have the balls to do this for my wife in the same circumstances. The man's a hero.

Would you do it?

I wouldn't wait till she's 86 that's for sure

MadsL

She was 81.

The Big Red Button

"Your honor, I met Ginger when she was 15 years old and I've loved her since she was 15 years old. I loved her when she was 81 years old," he said, trembling.

That's lovely.

The poor man. The bit about holding her hands up so that she could get her nails done ... it really got me. I know an elderly couple in quite a similar situation. They were both widows, who got together quite late in life, and the lady told me that the moment she was sure she was in love with him, was when he shaved her legs for her in advance of her hip operation.

An absolutely tragic situation. He seems a very brave and selfless man.

woodoo

The right decision was made by his wife, himself and the courts.

kowloon

A difficult thing to do. This guy shouldn't have been put in a situation where he had to help his wife. There needs to be a legal solution. As it stands, too much can go wrong, a bullet to the head isn't always quick and it isn't always fatal. There's also the possibility of murder being passed off as mercy.

1ZRed

Shooting is a bit rough in fairness. Maybe an overdose of heroin

MadsL

kowloon wrote: »

A difficult thing to do. This guy shouldn't have been put in a situation where he had to help his wife. There needs to be a legal solution. As it stands, too much can go wrong, a bullet to the head isn't always quick and it isn't always fatal. There's also the possibility of murder being passed off as mercy.

There is in Oregon. The problem is that it requires I think 30 or 15 days of residency in Oregon (not sure which)

seamus

Apparently in the US, the no. of suicides among pensioners is greater than the suicide figures among all other age groups combined, but because it's way down the list of "causes of death" among pensioners (old age, heart attack etc being the big ones), basically no-one ever mentions it.

It's a hard one alright. On one hand there are "better" ways of doing it that can look like a natural death (especially in an ill octogenarian), but then on the other hand that requires preparation and possibly having to involve other people who may talk you out of it; the weapon was to hand and it would be quick and painless.

The court of course made the right choice assuming they had no reason to believe it was anything but a consensual mercy killing.

Once gay marriage is put to bed (pun intended), I reckon assisted suicide will be the next major personal rights win in the western world this century.

My parents have been saying for the last few years in a semi-serious manner that if they get into their late 70s and one of them is diagnosed with a terminal or permanently debilitating illness, then they're just going to both go to Switzerland and end it with dignity.

PizzamanIRL

Of course LeBron James manages to find someway into an article about a man killing his wife.

4zn76tysfajdxp

seamus wrote: »

Once gay marriage is put to bed (pun intended), I reckon assisted suicide will be the next major personal rights win in the western world this century.

Hopefully this decade. Of course, what always happens is that these causes become more prominent after one particularly harrowing case takes over the media. Somebody with an incredibly painful terminal illness or who's trapped in their own body begs for an assisted suicide and it turns into a cause célèbre. And that could happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone. It could even happen to you.

Clandestine

1ZRed wrote: »

Shooting is a bit rough in fairness. Maybe an overdose of heroin

If the shooting is done right its quick and effective

Me personally, I'd just take a few pills with a drink and have it over within a few minutes.

kowloon

MadsL wrote: »

There is in Oregon. The problem is that it requires I think 30 or 15 days of residency in Oregon (not sure which)

A pity it isn't something that is available in Ireland. I believe going out on your own terms is very much an individual right. Forcing people into a bad death is a serious injustice and one of the things that angers me most.

1ZRed

Mayoman911 wrote: »

If the shooting is done right its quick and effective

Me personally, I'd just take a few pills with a drink and have it over within a few minutes.

I get that but shooting someone you're with and love and blowing a bloody hole through them over taking a strong overdose?

I know which one I'd choose.

Admirable intentions meant by him obviously.

Artful_Badger

1ZRed wrote: »

I get that but shooting someone you're with and love and blowing a bloody hole through them over taking a strong overdose?

I know which one I'd choose.

Admirable intentions meant by him obviously.

I'd imagine if you're about to end a loved ones life to end their suffering, the mess it causes wouldnt be foremost on your mind.

1ZRed

Artful_Badger wrote: »

I'd imagine if you're about to end a loved ones life to end their suffering, the mess it causes wouldnt be foremost on your mind.

If a lazy cuhnt like me had to mop up after it fecking would!

kowloon

Mayoman911 wrote: »

If the shooting is done right its quick and effective

Me personally, I'd just take a few pills with a drink and have it over within a few minutes.

People doing it themselves, the only way to keep others out of trouble, can flinch and either die painfully or even survive, with varying degrees of functional damage. I read a story about a guy who took three shots to get the job done, there's no way that was an easy death.
Someone might not have access to, or might take the wrong pills. I saw a documentary about suicide in Japan during which it was said that after a fatal overdose it could still take a day or more for the person to die.

Helping people through it is the humane course of action.

lightspeed

would carbon monoxide poisoning not be the best way for her to go?
She would just fall asleep and die in her sleep. They could have made a video of her agreeing to it if the cause of death was discovered and courts wanted to pursue a murder conviction.

I wonder will them NRA gun nuts try and use this in their pro gun campaign.

MadsL

lightspeed wrote: »

would carbon monoxide poisoning not be the best way for her to go?
She would just fall asleep and die in her sleep. They could have made a video of her agreeing to it if the cause of death was discovered and courts wanted to pursue a murder conviction.

I wonder will them NRA gun nuts try and use this in their pro gun campaign.

I'd say that is just your own anti-gun bias showing :rolleyes:

ColeTrain

MadsL wrote: »

The man's a hero.

Would you do it?

While I know where you're coming from, calling the man a hero for putting a bullet into his elderly wife's head is a bit of a stretch!

MadsL

ColeTrain wrote: »

While I know where you're coming from, calling the man a hero for putting a bullet into his elderly wife's head is a bit of a stretch!

I'm sure he was to his wife, no?

ColeTrain

MadsL wrote: »

I'm sure he was to his wife, no?

I don't know. I just think it's a grim enough way to 'help' a loved one.

NegativeCreep

1ZRed wrote: »

Shooting is a bit rough in fairness. Maybe an overdose of heroin

An overdose on heroin is no walk in the park. I'd much rather a Bullitt to the head.

1ZRed

NegativeCreep wrote: »

An overdose on heroin is no walk in the park. I'd much rather a Bullitt to the head.

I don't doubt it either.

As far as pills or drugs go, and to the best of what I know about them (far from an expert), heroin is the easiest to overdose on if that's your intention. Death by paracetamol overdose is slow, extremely painful and the mortality rate by is nowhere at all near 100%.

That's why I'd go for a few syringes over a box of paracetamol if I wanted to go by overdose.

Miss Lockhart

It very unpleasant to have to think about situations like this at all. Horrible for all involved.
I think the outcome was the "best"one possible. I know I couldn't do it though. Maybe in a less "violent" way.

Sofiztikated

1ZRed wrote: »

I don't doubt it either.

As far as pills or drugs go, and to the best of what I know about them (far from an expert), heroin is the easiest to overdose on if that's your intention. Death by paracetamol overdose is slow, extremely painful and the mortality rate by is nowhere at all near 100%.

That's why I'd go for a few syringes over a box of paracetamol if I wanted to go by overdose.

Drowning or suffocating might be easier.

Would an 81 yr old know where to get gear?

Still, pity he had to be the one to do it, but if he loved her...

Damn it, who's cutting onions?

kowloon

Sofiztikated wrote: »

Drowning or suffocating might be easier.

Drowning isn't always a clean death, I read that the reflex that kicks in to stop water entering the lungs can be quite painful.
Suffocation is similar if you just put a bag over your head. People who use helium or the likes seem to suffer the least, they just pass out.
Places like Dignitas use barbiturates.

seamus

kowloon wrote: »

Drowning isn't always a clean death, I read that the reflex that kicks in to stop water entering the lungs can be quite painful.
Suffocation is similar if you just put a bag over your head. People who use helium or the likes seem to suffer the least, they just pass out.

"Suffocation" covers basically every scenario which involves depriving a person of oxygen. It can be intensely unpleasant or absolutely painless depending on how you do it.
Effectively any form which involves depriving you of the ability to inhale gasses - plastic bag, drowning, etc, will cause all sorts of panic reflexes to kick in, and no doubt is a terrifying way to die.

But forms which allow you to inhale gasses sans oxygen allow you to bypass these reflexes and die in relative peace. The gas you choose is important though. Obviously some gasses will cause irritation of the eyes, throat and chest and you start coughing and suffering. They're out. Carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide tend not to irritate much, but it can be a slow death. At moderate levels of exposure, you could be anything up to half an hour suffering with the worst hangover you've ever experienced before you eventually pass out and die 2 hours later. Higher levels of exposure knock you out and kill you faster, obviously, but it can still be unpleasant.

Inert gasses like helium and nitrogen are more effective, they don't cause any hangover-like symptoms and you tend to slip into a pleasant dreamy coma and then die quite quickly.

Places like Dignitas use barbiturates.

Yep, to the best of my knowledge they use the same process that's used to execute prisoners in the US and euthanise animals.

Massive overdose of barbiturates knocks you out and then progressively causes your central nervous system to shut down.

The main issue I have with that is that it's dependent on the individual, and if the calculations are off or the person has some kind of bizarre body chemistry there's the risk that you may not kill them. The suffocation methods pretty much guarantee that the person will die eventually.