After 45 years of marriage, an Ohio man allegedly walked into a hospital and shot his wife to death.
Police say John Wise killed wife Barbara as she lay in critical condition on a hospital bed in the intensive care unit. But police are now investigating whether this 66-year-old man ended his wife's life in an attempted mercy killing.
Mrs. Wise had been in the hospital since July 28, when an ambulance was called to their home. The details of her illness are limited, but right now, we know that she was treated for a medical condition that involved "advanced life support including oxygen, a heart monitor, and IV."
Wise had brought the gun along during a hospital visit. Staff didn't know anything was wrong until they heard a pop sound that drew attention to the room. "It was an isolated incident," a spokesman for the hospital said. "No other staff was in harm." Wise has been cooperating since the incident, say police. "We are in the preliminary stages of the investigation," said Capt. Dan Zampelli. "Certainly him wanting to end his wife's suffering is one of the motives we're looking into."
Euthanasia is such a hot button topic. I for one have been conflicted about this issue since I first heard about Dr. Jack Kevorkian helping terminally ill patients with assisted suicide. It seems like a crime, but at the same time, it's merciful as well.
We don't know what conversations Mr. Wise had with his wife, but what if she asked him to end her life? What if she didn't want to live in whatever medical condition she was in at that time? That would suggest that he shot his wife out of love, wouldn't it? Does that make it any less of a crime? As gruesome as this particular case sounds, perhaps if Wise pulled the trigger, he felt that he was being a loving and compassionate husband by ending her life.
What do you think of assisted suicide? Is mercy killing wrong?
Image via iluvcocacola/Flickr
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Comments 28
What a hard topic. On one hand, yeah, the simple answer is "killing is wrong". It's in the ten commandments, it's in every religion (that I know of). It's in the laws of the land. It's wrong.
But...
Sometimes I think that some people live longer than their bodies are meant to function. Minds are gone, organs shut down. And the body just keeps going, almost like it 'doesn't know' it's supposed to stop.
We practice compassionate euthanasia with our pets - we know when they're suffering. Personal experience has shown that pets will 'tell' us when it's time for them to go, and we put them peacefully to sleep.
It's a hard decision to make, but it seems like we should consider changing laws to incorporate allowing a living will, made by the patient, that says, "I don't want to live this way if it is terminal". And we know when things are terminal.
But it's hard. It's a huge, thick, ethical mess. I hope I'm never in that situation.
My husband has discussed this wtih me MANY times. He doesn't want to be made to live if its pointless. Our wills are actually going to have this information included. That man should have had the right to remove her from life support.
While I think he went about it the wrong way, as PonyChaser said we tend to be kinder to our animals when they are sick and dying than we are to our humans. My grandmother was able to make the choice and go home rather than continue treatment and prolong her life unnecessary. My brother chose not to undergo more radiation, but the last week of his life he questioned a number of times why he hadn't died yet. My grandfather had very progressed alzeheimers and a DNR, but it still took a couple years for him to die even though his quality of life was nothing then. When we took my other grandfather off life support there were many meetings and then a waiting period before they could even start the process. Maybe he didn't want to see his wife suffer anymore and/or she asked to die. I don't think he should be charged with anything.
This is really sad. If we could make end of life descisions legally in America (as it realtes to euthanasia) many people would probably not have to either suffer or place their loved ones in untenable situations. There are so many diseases that place sufferers in positions where they cannot end thier own suffering and have to basically be allowed to either suffer until they die or be denied sustenance until they die. Either end is to horrible to comtemplate. I feel sorry for this woman and her husband. In Georgia, a number of years ago, a mother ended the lives of two of her sons, after they repeatedly begged her to, they had Huntington's disease and would have lain in the nursing facility for quite some time with no ability to do anything for themselves. They were conscience but that was all. She killed them by shooting them. She just waited to be taken into ccustody. These are heartrending choices people feel compelled to make. We need to really consider a better way.
Many conditions require oxygen, a heart monitor and an iv without being impossible or even ulikely to be recovered from. We should not judge, as there is not enough information.
No. I don't think mercy killing is wrong.
If she didn't want extreme measures taken, she should have signed a living will. And if he didn't want her in the hospital, he shouldn't have called an ambulance back in July. Sorry, dude, you're going to jail - agree w/his reason or not. There are better ways to have done this.
i think ponychaser said it best. earlybird1 i think if i was his wife i'd want the instant death of a bullet, not have my lungs fail once of life support. i feel terrible for this man. but i feel if he was a sound state of mind and knew she would want this, he shouldnt go to jail.