Man Arrested for Helping Dying Wife Commit Suicide

Kevin Conners says wife Lori had terminal cancer
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 21, 2019 10:19 AM CDT
Man Arrested for Helping Dying Wife Commit Suicide
A stock photo of a terminally ill person.   (Getty Images)

A Westbrook, Connecticut, man helped his cancer-stricken wife to die by suicide and now faces manslaughter charges, state police said. Kevin Conners, 65, told investigators that he held a revolver to the head of his wife, Lori, 62, who pulled the trigger on Sept. 6, according to the arrest warrant. Conners turned himself in Thursday and posted $50,000 bail; he is scheduled to make a court appearance Friday. On the night his wife died, Conners called 911 and told officers who arrived that he had been woken up by the sound of the gunshot. Questioned further by police he said he had helped his wife because he couldn't watch her suffer any more. He said he held the gun because his wife was worried about flinching when pulling the trigger, according to the warrant.

Lori Conners had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy treatments which, combined with symptoms of Lyme disease, made her very ill and sapped her will to live, police said Kevin Conners told them. Kevin Conners also told authorities that he and his wife had done research on states where assisted suicide is legal, including Vermont, and considered going there before deciding it wasn't an option because Lori was not a Vermont resident, according to the warrant. Prosecutions for assisted suicide in Connecticut are not common, reports the AP. A legislative proposal to allow medical aid in dying was introduced in Connecticut's General Assembly this spring but did not win approval.

(More suicide stories.)

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