Nebraska man convicted of assisted suicide in the death of girlfriend.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Matthew Stubbendieck

After two days of hearings and three hours of deliberation, a jury in Nebraska found Matthew Stubbendieck guilty of assisting the suicide of his girlfriend Alicia Wilemon-Sullivan in August 2017.

According to Paul Hammel reporting for the Omaha World Herald:

Wilemon-Sullivan, a divorced mother of four, had texted her boyfriend photos of supposed cancer surgery scars and claimed she had tried radiation treatments that were unsuccessful. 

Stubbendieck, admitted that Wilemon-Sullivan was coming to Nebraska to take her life, and he helped her find a secluded spot.

Even though the article suggested that jurors felt sorry for Stubbendieck, when he admitted that he layed with Wilemon-Sullivan for seven hours while she was dying of self-inflicted wounds, a female juror stated that, 'that was enough for her.'

Shirley Wilemon the mother of the deceased also thought that Stubbendieck should be found guilty. According to the article by Hammel, her mother stated:

“If you love someone, you don’t just sit there and let them die,” 

“He could have saved my daughter, and he chose to leave her out there.”

Stubbendieck also admitted to attempting to suffocate her while she was slowly dying.
Wilemon-Sullivan may have been dying of cancer, but that does not justify abandoning someone to their suicidal ideation.