Euthanasia activist and convicted murderer Jack Kevorkian, 79, was released June 1 after serving eight years of his 10- to 25-year sentence for second-degree murder. Lawyer Mayer Morganroth argued his client’s health problems and good behaviour justified early release from prison. Kevorkian was charged and found guilty of the 1998 second-degree murder (by carbon monoxide poisoning) of Thomas Youk, 52, who had ALS. CBS’s 60 Minutes program subsequently aired the grisly death. Kevorkian brags of being involved in the deaths of more than 130 people before his 1998 conviction, many of them, as Wesley Smith has pointed out, without any diagnosed illness – terminal or otherwise. Kevorkian has also indicated an interest in performing macabre scientific experiments on people he euthanizes. Upon his release, Kevorkian was literally embraced by the media – he was hugged by CBS’s Mike Wallace (of 60 Minutes), known as an outspoken advocate of abortion. Later, Kevorkian appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live, where he showed no remorse for his crimes. The terms of Kevorkian’s parole prevent him from personal contact with the elderly or disabled for a period of two years and forbid him from any involvement with assisted suicide. Kevorkian has said he will not break the law again and has pledged to work toward getting the euthanasia legalized. The media report Kevorkian is expected to live only for a year because he has contracted Hepatitis C.
