OZschwitz: Immoral jury shows no mercy in euthanasia trial

TWO women who say they were helping an Alzheimer's sufferer fulfil his wish to die, have been found guilty of killing him.

Shirley Justins and Caren Jenning, who had allegedly refused an earlier prosecution deal to plead guilty to assisting a suicide, may face prison terms when they are sentenced later in the year.

The verdict, a blow to the euthanasia movement, came after a six-week trial which did not cover the concept of a possible "mercy killing", and concentrated instead on alleged financial and personal motives - including an alleged love affair between Justins and a German woman.

Graeme Wylie, 71, a former Qantas pilot, died in March 2006 from an overdose of the veterinary drug Nembutal, bought in Mexico and illegally imported by Jenning, a long-term friend and a former NSW representative of the euthanasia group Exit International. Justins, his partner of 18 years, provided the drug to him, which she said he poured and drank, knowing it would kill him.

The crucial question in the Supreme Court case had been whether Mr Wylie was so affected by dementia that he could still decide for himself to commit suicide. Evidence from doctors and his daughters was contradicted by evidence from his sisters, Jenning, and, partly, Justins.

In finding Justins, 59, guilty of manslaughter and Jenning, 75, of being an accessory before the fact to manslaughter, the jury rejected the alternative charge of assisted suicide and the suggestion that he had been able to make up his mind to die.

Family and supporters of the women wept and gasped as the verdict was handed down. Outside the court, the euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke, who had assessed Mr Wylie for an application for an assisted suicide in Switzerland in 2005, said he thought Mr Wylie still "knew what he was doing".

The outcome meant, Dr Nitschke said, that people with dementia would have to "end their lives before their time" to ensure those helping them did not face murder charges. He would change the way his organisation, Exit International, advised people with Alzheimer's. "Don't go to your doctor. Don't have the tests … and if you do have the tests done that show you're starting to lose mental capacity, make sure it is not recorded."

The complex case was full of twists and dramas, many kept from the eyes and ears of the jury.

While jurors were told of Justins's alleged financial motive - Mr Wylie had changed his will a week before his death in her favour - they had not been told that his partner allegedly had a female lover in Germany.

Justice Roderick Howie ruled the prosecution was not allowed to tell the jury about Justins's contact with Bergi Mueller. The prosecution said the women had met three times and exchanged emails "of an intimate nature" discussing sex and had talked of dreaming about one another and the desire to be in the sauna together.

Justice Howie said their emails dating from 2002 to 2004 indicated "more than mere friendship" and the way the women referred to one another showed "at least some sexual interest".

Later the Crown produced evidence that Justins, an avid photographer, had accessed a nude photo of Ms Mueller on her laptop computer in October 2005 - at a time when she was applying on Mr Wylie's behalf for an assisted suicide in Switzerland.

Justins never became emotional in her evidence, nor spoke of intimate conversations with Mr Wylie to prove he had discussed his death with her. When police failed to see female clothes or toiletries in Mr Wylie's house at Cammeray, the theory that Justins was no longer committed to the relationship might have been born. A search of her phone and computer records brought evidence about the alleged love affair in Germany.

The jury was also barred from hearing evidence about Dr Nitschke's role in the suicide of Nancy Crick, who claimed to have terminal cancer, but only had a twisted bowel.

Dr Nitschke only agreed to talk to police after being subpoenaed. He had received a certificate against incrimination when he was asked about Exit's role in informing people about suicide.

Outside court, Nicola Dumbrell, Mr Wylie's youngest daughter from a previous marriage, told reporters: "I think the verdict is correct."

The women were released on bail and their case will return to court in October when a date will be set for sentencing. Jenning, who is also to be sentenced for the drug importation, is ill with terminal cancer. Her barrister, Michael Williams, QC, asked the court for a report on options other than imprisonment.

LNK
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