Cyprus man confessed to killing his wife because she was allegedly terminally ill.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Janice Hunter

An article by Ryan Fahey published by the Mirror on May 10 claims that British expat, David Hunter, who is on trial in Cyprus for killing his wife Janice by "assisted suicide" that Janice may not have been terminally ill. Janice died on December 18, 2021.

The media should not refer to the death as an "assisted suicide" when Hunter is on trial for murder. Fahey reported that Hunter confessed to killing his "terminally ill" wife and Fahey also reported that Haematologist Dr Ourania Seimeni said Janice had myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which is not necessarily terminal. The doctor admitted that 30 per cent of cases of MDS can lead to leukaemia.

Fahey reported that Hunter tried to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter but the charge of murder went forward to trial. According to a BBC report Hunter pled guilty to killing his wife Janice by asphyxiation.

Hunter's defense team is arguing that his confession was inadmissable because he was not given legal representation or offered a right to remain silent and he did not have a psychiatric assessment before being interviewed.

Hunter's defense team is focusing on Janice's possible terminal illness of but it should not matter because David Hunter confessed to killing her by asphyxiation.

Assisted suicide should not be a defense for murder. 

First, murder is not the same as assisting a suicide. With assisted suicide, the person kills oneself with the assistance of another person but with murder the person is kills the other person. 

Second, offering a lesser charge based on the health of the victim is a form of discrimination. The law needs to equally protect everyone.