Australian Woman Jailed For Euthanasia

Helped Boyfriend With Alzheimer's Die; Court Says He Wasn't Mentally Fit To Decide

(AP)  Alzheimer's battered Graeme Wylie so much that he could no longer recall his own birthday or remember that he had children. But, his partner said, Wylie did know this: Life was no longer worth living.

So, Shirley Justins obliged her sweetheart of 20 years, handing him a lethal dose of drugs. What she called an act of love, an Australian judge labeled manslaughter and sentenced the 60-year-old Justins to spend several days a week in jail for nearly two years.

Supreme Court of New South Wales Justice Roderick Howie insisted the case was not about euthanasia's morality. Instead, he wrote in his decision Wednesday, it centered on whether the 71-year-old Wylie had the mental capacity to decide that he wanted to die.

Assisted suicide is illegal in Australia, as it is in most of the world. Some places, like Oregon and Washington in the United States, allow physician-assisted suicide. The Netherlands decriminalized doctor-assisted suicide in 1993.

Wylie's case, however, prompted debate about a delicate dilemma in an already morally complicated question: At what point does a person advancing through Alzheimer's - a degenerative, terminal disease that is the most common cause of dementia - lose their ability to decide to die?

"They wouldn't be able to make it for themselves; somebody would make it for them," Dr. Rosanna Capolingua, president of the doctors' professional group the Australian Medical Association. "And would we be able to do that?"

Capolingua said a person suffering advanced Alzheimer's could not be trusted to make the choice attributed to Wylie, raising the question of influence by outsiders.

In Wylie's case, his daughter said, she was kept out of the critical decision.

"She did deceive our family, she did deceive Dad," Wylie's daughter, Tania Shakespeare, said after the sentencing. "I'm heartbroken that I wasn't able to say goodbye to my father."

Alzheimer's patients are particularly vulnerable as their cognition level can vary daily, said Roy Jones, director of the Research Institute for the Care of Older People, a nonprofit group in the United Kingdom.

"I think the problem is that as the course of Alzheimer's progresses, the person's ability to make decisions for themselves becomes more and more difficult and ultimately impossible," Jones said. "I don't think there's an easy answer."

Wylie, a former commercial airline pilot and the father of two daughters, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in March 2003. Over the next two years, according to the judge's sentencing report, his mental faculties declined; he stopped reading newspapers and had difficulty making conversation.

By 2005, tests showed he had "severe cognitive impairment." That September, he tried to cut his wrists, but survived.

That month, he told Justins he wanted to enlist the help of Dignitas, a Swiss organization that helps incurably ill people end their lives. It is legal in Switzerland for foreigners to travel to the country to commit assisted suicide, and dozens do so each year.

Dr. Philip Nitschke, a pro-euthanasia campaigner nicknamed "Dr. Death" by the Australian media, assessed Wylie and found that although he couldn't remember his date of birth, or whether he had children, he still had the presence of mind to decide his own fate.

But Dignitas rejected Wylie's application, saying it was unclear whether he had the cognitive ability to decide to die.

Wylie later tried to poison himself on lawnmower fumes, but again, survived. In March 2006, Justins handed him a lethal dose of a barbiturate and watched him drink it. She said he died within seconds.

"I believe that generally the offender was caring and supportive of the deceased and compliant to his wishes," Justice Howie wrote. "There is little doubt that he was genuine in seeking death through the Dignitas application."

Nevertheless, the judge found, shortly after the Dignitas application was rejected, Wylie's mental state had deteriorated to the point where he could no longer make a decision about ending his life. Justins, he argued, should have realized the situation had changed.

Nitschke, who followed the case closely and met Wylie several times, said there was no doubt about Wylie's wishes.

"He got what he wanted - a peaceful death," Nitschke told The Associated Press. "You can have significant dementia, but still know in an overwhelming way that your one desire is (for) a peaceful death."

[toolmangler-2009]

I voted Libertarian Party. I wish Obama all the luck in the world, but I don''''t like the people he surrounds himself with.
Posted by AJMarine111 at 11:19 PM : Nov 12, 2008


I like the people surrounding McCain even less,
I voted for two local incumbents and I am sorry about one of them already.

[babooph]

The banner should not use "euthanasia"-those still left in the rep. party think it''s a Chinese boy scout magazine.

[rheola-2009]

Posted by AJMarine111 at 11:19 PM : Nov 12, 2008

Must say I have never heard of the Libertarian Party., but then I am not totally up with American politics, however do find them fascinating, particuarly the way some get so carried away on these boards.

[ajmarine111]

Yes I should have added it is 13/11 here, or in your language 11/13.

Posted by rheola at 11:07 PM : Nov 12, 2008



And I should have said 11-12, not 10-12.


"How did you feel about Obama''''s election, or maybe I should say the election of the Democrats."

I voted Libertarian Party. I wish Obama all the luck in the world, but I don''t like the people he surrounds himself with.

[rheola-2009]

Posted by AJMarine111 at 10:59 PM : Nov 12, 20

Yes I should have added it is 13/11 here, or in your language 11/13.

How did you feel about Obama''s election, or maybe I should say the election of the Democrats.

You probably know from my previous postings that I was in favour, as were over 70% percent of Australians.

Enjoy the remander of your night, and of course many more.

[ajmarine111]

Have a great evening/night.


Posted by rheola at 10:56 PM : Nov 12, 2008



It''s 11:00 PM on 10-12 here.

[rheola-2009]

Posted by AJMarine111 at 10:30 PM : Nov 12, 2008

Hullo Mr. AJ.

Good to hear from you.

All is well with I, as I hope is so with yourself, it is in fact 3.00 pm here, on a brilliant sunny day.

Have a great evening/night.

[ajmarine111]

Posted by AJMarine111 at 09:50 PM : Nov 12, 200

Ah ha it is the quick or the dead.


Posted by rheola at 10:08 PM : Nov 12, 2008



Evening rheola,....I couldn''t resist.

How are you tonight, or I guess that might be "morning" to you.

[rheola-2009]

Posted by AJMarine111 at 09:50 PM : Nov 12, 200

Ah ha it is the quick or the dead.

[ajmarine111]

Posted by rheola at 06:19 PM : Nov 12, 2008



Ah Ha! Caught you with Erasmus again.

[erasmus81]

rheola

It was weird because they were all the same foot except for one. I think they were all left feet and then one right foot. And they were all wearing runners.

[erasmus81]

Posted by rheola at 08:39 PM : Nov 12, 2008

I do know about the others, I just haven''t heard about the latest one.

They don''t know where they are coming from. At one point they thought that there may have been a boat accident or something. They figured maybe a boat disturbed something and they floated to the surface. You would think though that we would have heard something about an accident happening.

I''ll check out that website.

[rheola-2009]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/another-foot-washes-up-off-canada/2008/11/13/1226318779949.html

That is the web site of the story.

[rheola-2009]

Posted by erasmus81 at 08:14 PM : Nov 12, 2008


Apparently there have been severed feet washing up along Canada''s shoreline fo0r some time, according to our media, this last one is reputed to be the seventh.

Maybe these stories are preserved for slow news day''s and are the figment of journalist''s imagination.

See following

Another foot washes up off Canada

A severed foot - the seventh since August last year - has washed up on Canada''s Pacific shore, police said, rekindling speculation of a murder mystery, or plane or boat accident.

The foot was found by a woman walking her dogs on the banks of the Fraser River in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond on Tuesday, Sergeant Kathrine Hansen of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Watch out, it is all happening around you.

[erasmus81]

P.S.
I see you still have a foot problem in Canada, or should I say, some others appear to have a lack of feet problem.

Posted by rheola at 06:19 PM : Nov 12, 2008

Really? Hahahaha. I haven''t heard yet. I haven''t watched the news today. I tried to find something on it from a particular website, but didn''t see anything. I talked to my mom (her memory isn''t great), and she said she thought it was in Washington. Pretty bad when I learn about it from a person from Australia, eh?

[erasmus81]

It also free''''s up jail spce for more serious criminals.

Posted by rheola at 06:16 PM : Nov 12, 2008

That sounds like a way better system. That''s what we should do here.

[peacedreamer-2009]

I suppose...but they weren''t married, she didn''t tell his children he was dying and she made the decision unilaterally.

[rheola-2009]

Posted by spadeisspade at 07:44 PM : Nov 12, 2008


I in the greater part do agree with you, however this person was not his spouse.

This story recieved great publicity continually throughout the trial here in Sydney, I myself am an advocate of euthanasia, however in this particular matter, with the possibility of pressure being applied by the woman concerned to effect a will in her favour, whilst his ability to understand the consequences at the time, brings her motives into serious question.

Enjoy your evening/night.

[spadeisspade]

I agree with erasmus. There was a pretty clear track record of this guy wanting to end his life prior to completely losing his mental functions. Whether or not he was able to make those decisions at that point shouldn''t have had any bearing on what his wife did. When someone signs a DNR, they obviously wouldn''t be in a position to change their minds if they suddenly needed life intervening medicine, but doctors still honor the DNR. It''s the same thing!

Also, it''s pretty common for a spouse to be the sole benefactor in a will, even when there are children. The spouse will obviously need money to live until THEY die, then the money goes from the last spouse to die down to the children and the like. She likely did not tell her daughter about the plan because it is pretty obvious from the daughter''s statements that they don''t get along. We don''t know the whole story.

[rheola-2009]

Erasmus.

P.S.
I see you still have a foot problem in Canada, or should I say, some others appear to have a lack of feet problem.