Serial Killer: Dr. Jack Kevorkian aka Dr. Death

Dr. Jack Kevorkian (Wikipedia)

Jack Kevorkian (pronounced /kɛˈvɔrkiːɛn/; born May 26, 1928) is an American pathologist and right-to-die activist. He is most noted for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he claims to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said that "dying is not a crime."

Between 1999 and 2007, Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He was released on June 1, 2007, on parole due to good behavior.

Life and career

Kevorkian was born in Pontiac, Michigan, to Armenian-American parents. He graduated from Pontiac Central High School with honors in 1945, at the age of 17. He then enrolled at the University of Michigan Medical School, from which he graduated in 1952.

In the 1980s, Kevorkian wrote a series of articles for the German journal Medicine and Law that laid out his thinking on the ethics of euthanasia.

Kevorkian started advertising in Detroit newspapers in 1987 as a physician consultant for "death counseling." In 1991 the State of Michigan revoked Kevorkian's medical license and made it clear that given his actions, he was no longer permitted to practice medicine or to work with patients. Between 1990 and 1998, Kevorkian assisted in the deaths of nearly one hundred terminally ill people, according to his lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. In each of the above mentioned cases, the individuals themselves allegedly took the final action which resulted in their own deaths. Kevorkian allegedly assisted only by attaching the individual to a euthanasia device that he had made. The individual then pushed a button which released the drugs or chemicals that would end his or her own life. Two deaths were assisted by means of a device which delivered the euthanizing drugs mechanically through an IV. Kevorkian called it a "Thanatron" (death machine). Other people were assisted by a device which employed a gas mask fed by a canister of carbon monoxide which was called "Mercitron" (mercy machine). This became necessary because Kevorkian's medical license had been revoked after the first two deaths, and he could no longer have legal access to the substances required for the "Thanatron".

Art career

Kevorkian is a jazz musician and composer. The Kevorkian Suite: A Very Still Life was a 1997 limited release CD of 5000 copies from the 'Lucid Subjazz' label. It features Kevorkian on the flute and organ playing his own works with "The Morpheus Quintet".

Kevorkian is an oil painter. His work tends toward the grotesque; he sometimes paints with his own blood, and has created pictures such as one "of a child eating the flesh off a decomposing corpse”. Of his known works, 6 were made available in the 1990s for print release. The Ariana Gallery in Royal Oak, Michigan is the exclusive distributor of Kevorkian's artwork. The original oil prints are not for release.

Trials

Kevorkian was tried numerous times for assisting suicides. Many of these trials took place in Oakland County, Michigan. In every instance prior to the Thomas Youk case (see below), Kevorkian was gaining public support for his cause, as is evidenced by the defeat of Oakland County prosecutor Richard Thompson by David Gorcyca in the Republican primary. The result of the political election was attributed, in part, to the declining public support for the prosecution of Kevorkian and its associated legal expenses.

Kevorkian demonstrated a flair for dramatic publicity stunts at this time, showing up at one trial in a powdered wig. He protested an incarceration pursuant to another trial by staging a hunger strike and wore a placard challenging the Oakland County prosecutor to bring him to trial for the death of Youk.

Conviction and imprisonment

On the November 22, 1998, broadcast of 60 Minutes, Kevorkian allowed the airing of a videotape he had made on September 17, 1998, which depicted the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Youk, 52, who was in the final stages of ALS. After Youk provided his fully-informed consent (a sometimes complex legal determination made here by editorial consensus) on September 17, 1998, Kevorkian himself administered a lethal injection. This was novel, as all of his earlier clients had reportedly completed the process themselves. During the videotape, Kevorkian dared the authorities to try to convict him or stop him from carrying out assisted suicides. This incited the prosecuting attorney to bring murder charges against Kevorkian, claiming he had single-handedly caused the death.

On March 26, 1999, Kevorkian was charged with first-degree homicide and the delivery of a controlled substance (administering a lethal injection to Thomas Youk). Kevorkian's license to practice medicine had been revoked eight years previously; he was not legally allowed to possess the controlled substance. As homicide law is relatively fixed and routine, this trial was markedly different from earlier ones that involved an area of law in flux (assisted suicide). Kevorkian discharged his attorneys and proceeded through the trial representing himself. The judge ordered a criminal defense attorney to remain available at trial for information and advice. Inexperienced in law and persisting in his efforts to appear pro se, Kevorkian encountered great difficulty in presenting his evidence and arguments.

The Michigan jury found Kevorkian guilty of second-degree homicide. It was proven that he had directly killed a person because Youk was not physically able to kill himself. Youk, unable to assist in his suicide, agreed to let Kevorkian kill him using controlled substances. The judge sentenced Kevorkian to serve a 10-25 year prison sentence and told him: "You were on bond to another judge when you committed this offense, you were not licensed to practice medicine when you committed this offense and you hadn't been licensed for eight years. And you had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did and dare the legal system to stop you. Well, sir, consider yourself stopped." Kevorkian was sent to prison in Coldwater, Michigan.

In the course of the various proceedings, Kevorkian made statements under oath and to the press that he considered it his duty to assist persons in their death. He indicated under oath that because he thought laws to the contrary were archaic and unjust, he would persist in civil disobedience, even under threat of criminal punishment. Future intent to commit crimes is an element parole boards may consider in deciding whether to grant a convicted person relief. After his conviction (and subsequent losses on appeal) Kevorkian was denied parole repeatedly.

In an MSNBC interview aired on September 29, 2005, Kevorkian said that if he were granted parole, he would not resume directly helping people die and would restrict himself to campaigning to have the law changed. On December 22, 2005, Kevorkian was denied parole by a board on the count of 7-2 recommending not to give parole.

Terminally ill with Hepatitis C, which he contracted while doing research on blood transfusions in Vietnam, Kevorkian was expected to die within a year in May 2006. After applying for a pardon, parole, or commutation by the parole board and Governor Jennifer Granholm, he was paroled on June 1, 2007, due to good behavior. He had only spent 8 years and 2 1/2 months behind bars rather than the predicted 10-25 years.

"Kevorkian will be on parole for two years, and one of the conditions he must meet is that he cannot help anyone else die. He is also prohibited from providing care for anyone who is older than 62 or is disabled. He could go back to prison if he violates his parole." Kevorkian said he would abstain from assisting any more terminal patients with death, and his role in the matter would strictly be to persuade states to change their laws on assisted suicide. He is also forbidden by the rules of his parole from commenting about assisted suicide.

On June 4, 2007, Kevorkian appeared on CNN's Larry King Live to discuss his time in prison and his future plans. At the time of Kevorkian's release, the only state in the United States that had legalized doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill people was Oregon.

Activities after his release from prison

On January 15, 2008, Kevorkian gave his largest public lecture since his release from prison, speaking to a crowd of 4,867 people at the University of Florida. The St. Petersburg Times reported that Kevorkian expressed a desire for assisted suicide to be "a medical service" for willing patients. "My aim in helping the patient was not to cause death," the paper quoted him as saying. "My aim was to end suffering. It's got to be decriminalized."

On February 5, 2009, Kevorkian lectured to students and faculty at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida. Over 2,500 people heard him discuss tyranny, the criminal justice system and politics. A mixture of poor acoustics and a long lecture caused many people to leave 45 minutes in. Those who stayed did get to hear his thoughts on the topic of euthanasia during a question and answer period. There were mixed reactions when Kevorkian unveiled an American Flag with a swastika where the field of stars normally resides (the Union). He claimed the flag was intended to shock and remind everyone that this is where America is headed if changes are not made.

On September 2, 2009, he appeared on Fox News Channel's Your World with Neil Cavuto in his first live national television interview to discuss health care reform.

On September 20, 2009, he appeared at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania to speak to a sold-out audience. Sellers of tickets claimed that all tickets were sold out within 5 minutes of the office opening.

2008 Congressional election

On March 12, 2008, Kevorkian announced plans to run for United States Congress to represent Michigan's 9th Congressional District against long term congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield Hills) and Central Michigan University Professor Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township). He ran as an independent, hoping to bring integrity and prison reform to the government. He received 9,047 votes, or 2.6%.

Media

Al Pacino is playing Jack Kevorkian in a television series entitled, You Don't Know Jack. The series is currently filming.

See also

• Euthanasia device
• Philip Nitschke

References

Further reading

• Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying by Derek Humphry. ISBN 0-385-33653-5.
• Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide (For and Against) by Gerald Dworkin, R. G. Frey (Series Editor), Sissela Bok, 1998: ISBN 0-521-58789-1.
• Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Anatomy of a Constitutional Law Issue by Arthur Gordon Svenson and Susan M. Behuniak. ISBN 0-7425-1725-X.
• Assisted Suicide and the Right to Die: The Interface of Social Science, Public Policy, and Medical Ethics by Barry Rosenfeld PhD, 2004 ISBN 1-59147-102-8.
• Forced Exit : The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder by Wesley J. Smith, 1997. ISBN 0-8129-2790-7.
• "A View to a Kill" by Wesley J. Smith, National Review Online, December 14, 2005, retrieved December 14, 2005.
• Appointment With Dr. Death by Michael Betzold
• "The Rhetoric of Kevorkian's Battle," by Robert Wade Kenny Quarterly Journal of Speech 86 (2000): 386-401.

External links

• Jack Kevorkian at the Internet Movie Database
• "Papa" Prell's controversial interview with Kevorkian on the radio.
• Court TV coverage
• PBS.org Frontline Program "The Kevorkian Verdict: The Life and Legacy of the Suicide Doctor" -- with timeline and other info.
• A Summary of Dr. Kevorkian's Art Work
• Judge Jessica Cooper's statement upon sentencing Kevorkian
• Unsung American Hero Kevorkian Coming Home To Die
• BBC Radio 4 Today interview with John Humphrys
• Kevorkian on law and the constitution during an appearance at Harvard Law School (Harvard Law Record)

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