“I Helped Her on Her Way”: Florida Doctor Goes on Trial for Mercy Killing

This article relates the case of Peter Rosier, a Florida pathologist, who is to be tried for helping his terminally ill wife, Patricia, commit suicide. When the powerful dose of Seconal did not work, he gave her a double dose of morphine. Meanwhile, greatly complicating the matter, Patricia’s stepfather confessed he smothered her when it became clear that neither the seconal nor the morphine had worked. The trial is expected to fuel a painful debate about the morality of euthanasia. (GW)