The media appears to be trying to create an assisted suicide story in Canada?

I was just watching the CBC national news (June 16, 2010). They were reporting on a sad and unique story of a retired Quebec Judge who has been charged with the murder of his wife.

Jacques Delisle

Retired Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Jacques Delisle (75) was charged yesterday with homicide and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in the November 12, 2009 death of his wife Nicole Rainville.

The report stated that the police had responded to a 911 call on November 12 where they found Rainville dead from a reported suicide. The report stated that Rainville had a stroke several years earlier.

The CBC report then stated that the case is suspected of being an assisted suicide case. This comment confused me since it is clear that euthanasia is a type of homicide in Canadian law and assisted suicide is prosecuted under Section 241 of the Criminal Code, the assisted suicide statute. The report also suggested that a careful review of the case occurred before Delisle was charged with homicide.

It appears clear to me that the CBC reporter has made an error in the report because the Director of Public Prosecutions would not charge Delisle with homicide if the act was in fact an assisted suicide.

Homicide occurs when someone kills another person.

Assisted suicide occurs when someone aids, abets (encourages) or counsels someone to commit suicide. Therefore the person commits suicide with the direct and intentional involvement of another person.

I thought, how could CBC make such a clear error in their reporting?

I found an article from today's National Post that also referred to assisted suicide. The article stated:

Martine Berube, a spokeswoman for Quebec's office of public prosecutions, said the murder charge has "sent shockwaves" through Quebec's legal community. "We checked, and this is the first time in Canada that a judge has been charged with murder," she said.

She noted that the Criminal Code makes no distinction between murder and assisted suicide. "Causing the death of someone is a homicide, and when it has been planned it is premeditated murder," she said. "Assisted suicide is not yet recognized in Canadian law."

The context of the statement by Martine Berube is not clear but it appears that she is responding to a question by a reporter. It is also likely that the comment was made in french and then translated incorrectly into english.

The Criminal Code makes no distinction between homicide and euthanasia in Canadian law. The Criminal Code clearly differentiates homicide from assisted suicide.

Homicide is Section 222 of the criminal code and Assisted Suicide is Section 241 of the criminal code.

This reminds me of the calls I received when the Fonteece case became known. Peter and Yanisa Fonteece were travelling west to find work when their car broke down in Thunder Bay. When Yanisa was found dead at the Super 8 motel in Thunder Bay, the media assumed it was an assisted suicide case and contacted the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition for a comment. Peter Fonteece was charged with criminal negligence in connection to his wife's suicide death. There was no evidence that Peter assisted her suicide in any manner.

Basically the media was prematurely refering to the Fonteece case as an assisted suicide when one didn't exist.

Is the media jumping to conclusions in order to create an assisted suicide case to stoke the fires of the assisted suicide debate in Quebec and Canada or is this simply an error by a reporter who doesn't understand the law?

Further to that, how did the CBC editors not catch the error in the story before it went to air?

The news story stated that there will be a discovery hearing on June 21. Hopefully the truth becomes known and is reported with the same vigour as the non-assisted suicide story.

Link to the article in the National Post: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Retired+judge+charged+with+wife+murder/3160506/story.html

Peter Fonteece to be sentenced in May

An article published in the Thunder Bay Ontario Chronicle Journal is reporting that Peter Fonteece who pleaded guilty to criminal negligence in connection with his wife‘s suicide in a Thunder Bay hotel room is to be sentenced in May.

As you may remember, when the Fonteece case was first reported, media from across Canada were trying to turn this case into a reason to legalize assisted suicide in Canada. Now the case has ended with Fonteece pleading guilty to a lesser charge of criminal negligence.

Link to my previous blog comment about the Fonteece case:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2009/02/death-in-thunder-bay-fonteece-case.html

The important quote in this article is:

“Rather, the Crown‘s case is that Peter Fonteece did nothing when, in law, he was required to act.”

The court must, impose a sentence that takes into account the duty family members owe to one another, and shows that society “will not tolerate the inattention or disregard for another family member‘s life, even in circumstances as tragic as those in the life that Peter and Yanisa Fonteece had made for themselves.”

The article stated:

Superior Court Justice Helen Pierce heard sentencing submissions Wednesday from the Crown and defence, then adjourned the matter to May 13, saying she needed time to consider the case.

Crown lawyer David MacKenzie asked for nine months of incarceration, with 18 months of probation to follow. A 10-year weapons prohibition would be “mandatory” under the law given the nature of the offence, he said.

Defence counsel Gil Labine said time served, plus probation, was suitable.

Fonteece‘s 38-year-old wife Yanisa died in February 2009.

According to an agreed statement of facts read into the record in December, Yanisa, who was depressed and had harboured thoughts of suicide for a lengthy period dating back to before she met Fonteece, and Fonteece had left their Waterloo home and headed west in search of a better life.

She had lost her job just before Christmas, while Fonteece has a vision impairment that keeps him from working.

Having no prospects, and estranged families back home, they arrived in Thunder Bay Feb. 2, 2009.

But car trouble prevented them from going any further. The heater malfunctioned and they didn‘t have the money to repair it. Nor did they wish to continue driving without heat in February.

Yanisa rented a room at a hotel, and with her husband at her side committed suicide by ingesting 40-60 sleeping pills.

They had a pact that he wasn‘t to notify anyone, as she wanted to die in peace. Then, he would take his own life.

Fonteece tried no less than five times to kill himself, Labine told court. Having failed, he took it as a sign that he wasn‘t supposed to die.

On Feb. 6, he called 911 and informed the dispatcher that his wife was dead.

Labine told court Wednesday that Fonteece spent about 70 days in custody at Thunder Bay District Jail after his wife‘s death.

He underwent a psychiatric evaluation which revealed no mental health issues. Since his release, Labine said, Fonteece has been living at the John Howard Society in Thunder Bay under conditions, and he‘s not only “lived by the rules,” but has done a great deal of volunteer work for the agency. Labine called him a “poster boy” for the society.

In addition, Fonteece has no criminal record, nor were there any indications he posed any danger to anyone, Labine said.

“His character is that of a very gentle soul,” Labine told court, adding that his wife, too, was of such character.

The pair, he said, was simply trying to make their way through life, and had encountered difficulties which took their toll.

But, Labine said, under the law, Fonteece did commit a crime in allowing his wife‘s suicide to take place.

MacKenzie agreed.

“In rhetorical terms, Mr. Fonteece is not Dr. Kevorkian,” MacKenzie told court. “This is not a case where the Crown can establish that Peter Fonteece did anything either by way of physical act or encouragement or persuasion that led to his wife‘s demise.

“Rather, the Crown‘s case is that Peter Fonteece did nothing when, in law, he was required to act.”

The court must, MacKenzie said, impose a sentence that takes into account the duty family members owe to one another, and shows that society “will not tolerate the inattention or disregard for another family member‘s life, even in circumstances as tragic as those in the life that Peter and Yanisa Fonteece had made for themselves.”

Fonteece, when asked if he had anything to say, told court that his wife did not ask him to call for help or otherwise intervene as she died.

Link to the article in the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal: http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories_local.php?id=245964

Fonteece released to half-way house - pending trial

Information Update:

The Canadian Press has reported that Peter Fonteece has been released on bail to a half-way house pending trial in the death of his wife Yolande.

The Canadian Press Article stated:

Peter Fonteece, 46, was released on a recognizance with $1,000 no-deposit bail after a court appearance Wednesday in this northwestern Ontario city.

Fonteece is required to live at Howard House, run by the John Howard Society, and abide by their rules and curfew. He must also report to police weekly and attend appointments with the Canadian Mental Health Association. Fonteece, who is scheduled to be back in provincial court on May 7, is charged with criminal negligence causing death and assisted suicide in the death of his wife, Yanisa Fonteece, 38.

The couple had been driving west when their vehicle broke down in Thunder Bay on Feb. 2, police said. It's believed they were unemployed and headed west, looking for work.

On Feb. 6, Fonteece called 911 and paramedics and police found his wife's body in their motel room.

Link to Canadian Press article:
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1525759

Husband declared fit for trial for alleged role in wife's suicide

The Waterloo Record newspaper reported on April 9, 2009 that Peter Fonteece was able to stand trial in the death of his wife Yanissa Fonteece.

The article stated:

A man from Waterloo, charged with assisting his wife's suicide in February, has been found fit to stand trial. A judge made the decision yesterday after a psychiatric assessment of Peter Fonteece, 46. The body of 38-year-old Yanisa Fonteece was discovered Feb. 6 in a Thunder Bay motel room after her husband made a 911 call. The couple were heading to Western Canada when their car broke down Feb. 2. Fonteece is also charged with criminal negligence causing death.

It is important to note that when the media first contacted the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, the media were attempting to build a story for changing the law based on this case.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition cannot comment on the merits of the case until information becomes available.

Longer Psychiatric Assessment for man charged with assisted suicide

The Waterloo Record is reporting that Peter Fonteece will undergo a longer psychiatric assessment than first anticipated. Fonteece was charged with assisted suicide and criminal negligence causing death, in the death of his wife Yanisa.

Peter & Yanisa Fonteece were going from the Waterloo area to British Columbia to start a new life, when their car broke down in Thunder Bay. Several days later the police were called and Yanisa was found dead.

The first calls I received from the media were asking me questions concerning the law and attempting to use this story to create a precedent for changing the law prohibiting assisted suicide.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has not commented directly on the case because we lack the necessary information to make a proper comment.

Nonetheless, this case is not about a terminally ill woman who was killed by her husband for reasons of mercy or compassion.

Link to the article in the Waterloo Record:
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/503318

Peter Fonteece ordered to undergo 30-day psychiatric assessment

The CKCO television news is reporting that Peter Fonteece was charged with counseling suicide. The Canadian law forbids aiding, abetting and counselling suicide. He was also charged with criminal negligence causing death.

Link to the CKCO television report:
http://southwesternontario.ctv.ca/news.php?id=3929

The following text is from the Canwest News Service

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — A Waterloo, Ont., man charged with assisted suicide was ordered Friday to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment.

Peter Bernard Fonteece, 46, appeared Friday morning in court in Thunder Bay, Ont. for a bail hearing, police said.

Fonteece has also been charged with criminal negligence causing death charged in connection with the death of his wife, whose body police found on Friday.

Yanisa Fonteece, 38, was found dead in a room at a Super 8 Motel in Thunder Bay, about 600 kilometres east of Winnipeg.

Peter Fonteece's next court date is scheduled for March 13.

Link to article from the canwest news service:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/charged+with+assisted+suicide+have+psychiatric+assessment/1287279/story.html

Death in Thunder Bay - Fonteece Case

Sometimes the media gets it right and other times, like the Fonteece case, where I just need to scratch my head and wonder. The media called me for quotes on the Fonteece case appearing to be creating an issue rather than reporting.

What is known about the Fonteece case?
We know that Peter and Yanisa Fonteece were unemployed and traveling west with the hope of finding employment in British Columbia.

We know that their car broke down in Thunder Bay and they stayed at the Super 8 Motel for 4 days.

We know that Mr. Fonteece called 911 in the early morning of February 6. Emergency services arrived and found Mrs Fonteece dead. Paramedics did not attempt to resuscitate her because she had been dead for awhile.

The police gathered information questioned Mr Fonteece and charged him with criminal negligence causing death and assisted suicide.

The Kitchener/Waterloo Record reported that the Fonteeces moved out of a low-rise apartment building on January 31 after living their for more than 1 year. The building superintendant sated that ‘they had given two months’ notice and seemed healthy as they packed up.’

The UPI International reported that the autopsy found ‘There was no immediate indication Yanisa Fonteece suffered from any sort of disease.’ Results from the toxicology tests could take several weeks.

The National Post quoted Martin Frith from Dying With Dignity, a group that is dedicated to legalizing assisted suicide, as saying: “It’s really problematic that in the absence of a law that would actually allow for assisted dying we have situations where well intentioned family members who are supporting a mature, competent adult runs the risk of being charged with assisted suicide.”

The Toronto Sun quoted EPC’s Alex Schadenberg as saying: “It’s understandable in the current “economic downturn” that people would become desperate.”

The National Post quoted Alex Schadenberg as saying: “the law is there to protect vulnerable people. “Nobody should be allowed to directly and intentionally take another persons life, That is a line we should never cross.”

Wesley Smith commented on his blog: “Let’s assume...that Yanisa was just sick of living because of hard times and asked her husband to help her die: If it would be okay for him to do the deed ... After all, isn’t the “right to die” about a purported sacrosanct liberty to determine the time, manner, and place of one’s own death? Once that principle is accepted, the details become minutia, because one person’s bearable difficulty is another’s unbearable suffering.

It is difficult to make a comment on the Fonteece case, until further information is released. Nonetheless it is clear that this is not a typical assisted suicide case and it is more likely that Yanisa Fonteece lost hope in difficult economic times.

Husband charged with aiding wifes suicide

The United Press International provides a little more information for us on the Fonteece case. This article states that the autopsy report proves that: "there was no indication Yanisa Fonteece suffered from any sort of disease"

It is really hard to say anything clear about the case, but it may be that the couple was so distraught with the financial hardship that they were experiencing that Yonisa decided that she couldn't take it anymore. The sad reality is that many people experience extreme depression that leads them to believe that their is no more hope in life.

We will continue to publish new information.

This is the article in the United Press International:

Thunder Bay, Ontario, Feb. 10 (UPI)
A Canadian man is charged with helping his wife commit suicide in a northern Ontario city motel room, police said.

Peter Fonteece, 46, was to make a court appearance Tuesday in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with regard to bail on the assisted suicide and criminal negligence causing death charges, the National Post reported.

He called 911 from a Super 8 Motel room in the city at the head of Lake Superior early Friday morning about his 38-year-old wife Yanisa, police said. Paramedics found her in bed and didn't attempt resuscitation as they said she had been dead for some time, an emergency official said.

Police said the couple were from Waterloo in southern Ontario and were bound for British Columbia after they both lost their jobs and fell on hard financial times.

There was no immediate indication Yanisa Fonteece suffered from any sort of disease, the report said. An autopsy was conducted Saturday in Toronto but other tests, including toxicology, could takes weeks, police said.

Link to the article in the United Press International
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/02/10/Husband_charged_with_aiding_wifes_suicide/UPI-95911234269168/

Why isn't this just Aid in Dying too?

The Euthanasia has not given any direct comment concerning the Fonteece case because we lack the necessary information but we are publishing updates of information.


Wesley Smith made some very insightful comments concerning the case.
He stated:

A Canadian man is under arrest for assisted suicide in the death of his wife. She had no apparent illness. The couple were apparently suffering from very hard economic times, but precise details are not yet known.

Let's assume for the moment--to illustrate what is happening in our culture, not to prejudge this case--that Yanisa (his wife) was just sick of living because of hard times and asked her husband to help her die: If it would be okay for him to do the deed if, say, she had ALS, why not in this hypothetical situation, too? After all, isn't the "right to die" about a purported sacrosanct liberty to determine the time, manner, and place of one's own death? Once that principle is accepted, the details become minutia, because one person's bearable difficulty is another's unbearable suffering.

Smith then stated:
Perhaps it is just that we live in profoundly nihilistic times in which the importance of human life itself has become lost in the gray. As Canadian journalist Andrew Coyne put it once so succinctly:

A society that believes in nothing can offer no argument even against death. A culture that has lost its faith in life cannot comprehend why it must be endured.

Link to the blog comment by Wesley Smith:
http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/2009/02/why-isnt-this-just-aid-in-dying-too.html

Couple's Odyssey ends in Tragedy

An article in the National Post about the Fonteece case does provide a little more information concerning the case.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will only comment on the case after sufficient information exists.

The text of the National Post article by Peter Cheney on February 10, 2009 is as follows:

Husband charged with helping wife commit suicide says they had fallen on hard times

Sudbury was 12 hours behind them when Peter and Yanisa Fonteece limped into Thunder Bay in their 1998 Oldsmobile. They checked into the Super 8 motel and told the desk clerk they had car trouble. But it went far deeper than that. Five days later, Mrs. Fonteece was dead, and her husband was in jail, charged with helping her commit suicide.

According to Mr. Fonteece, they were both unemployed and had decided to leave Ontario behind. Like a Canadian version of The Grapes of Wrath set in the economic meltdown of 2009, they were heading west in search of greener pastures. But it all ended at the Super 8 on the north end of Thunder Bay's Memorial Avenue.

At 6 a.m. last Friday, police say, Mr. Fonteece made a 911 call from the motel. Later that day, he was behind bars. Mr. Fonteece is 46. His wife was 38. Police say they'd been living in Waterloo, Ont., and had fallen on hard times. They were heading for British Columbia.

Exactly what happened to Mrs. Fonteece will be determined by an autopsy. Police can't say whether she was suffering from a serious illness. But according to Thunder Bay police spokesman Chris Adams, investigators who were called to the Super 8 found evidence to support two charges against her husband: criminal negligence causing death and assisted suicide.

"We're still working on what happened," Mr. Adams said. "Obviously, this is a terrible private tragedy."

The couple's background has presented police with a mystery. They arrived in Thunder Bay on Feb. 2. How they spent the four days until the 911 call and the discovery of Mrs. Fonteece's body is unknown, and police have had no luck tracking down any of the couple's relatives.

"We're still trying to piece together information," Mr. Adams said. "This is a highly unusual situation."

Mr. Adams said Thunder Bay is a traditional stopping point for travellers making the trip across Canada. The city is at the head of Lake Superior, and is the only major city in a remote area larger than some countries - Sudbury is about 12 hours to the east, and Winnipeg is about eight hours to the west.

"Thunder Bay is a crossroads," Mr. Adams said. "If you're driving across Canada, you go through here. There's no choice - everything that goes down the road has to pass through Thunder Bay."

Mr. Fonteece made a videotaped appearance in a Thunder Bay courtroom on Saturday. He is scheduled to appear again today. A search of his background yielded few results. A man using the name Peter Fonteece appeared in a 2001 computer forum about the fate of the new Windows XP operating system. A P.B. Fonteece appeared in the transcript of a 1995 Compuserve conference with a member of the rock band Def Leppard. (Mr. Fonteece's middle name is Bernard.)

In 2007, a list of expired Internet domain names included the entry fonteece.ca.

Lynn Peterson, Thunder Bay's mayor, said the Fonteece case has captured a tremendous amount of local attention. "It's in all the papers," she said. "Everyone's talking about it. Everybody's saddened by it. What else can you say?"

The link to the National Post article:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090210.YANISA10/TPStory/National

Death ends dream

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will not make any direct statements concerning the Fonteece case because we lack the necessary information to effectively analyse the charges of assisted suicide that were placed upon Peter Fonteece.

We are updating the current information about the case.

The Toronto Sun published an article on February 10, 2009, by Chris Doucette on the case.

Here is the text of the article:
Death ends dream

A Southern Ontario couple's plans to head out west to get a new lease on life ended in a woman's death in a Thunder Bay motel room.

And now her husband is accused of helping the woman kill herself.

Peter Bernard Fonteece, 46, of Waterloo, called 911 around 6 a.m. last Friday and said his wife, Yanisa, was dead in a motel room, Thunder Bay Police said yesterday. Paramedics arrived at the Super 8 soon after and found the 38-year-old woman in bed with no vital signs.

It's unclear how long the woman was dead, but paramedics made no attempt to resuscitate her.

"(Peter) was present in the room," executive officer Chris Adams said. "He was co-operative and he was taken into custody at that point."

He said the husband was charged with assisted suicide and criminal negligence causing death.

"We're still trying to get a handle on her background, and his as well," he said.

Investigators believe the Waterloo couple were heading out west, possibly to B.C., in search of work.

"It appears, as with many people who are unemployed, they may have been looking for opportunities in Western Canada," Adams said.

"(But) their car broke down a week ago," he said, explaining the couple had been staying in Thunder Bay since then.

Adams wouldn't comment on any possible health issues the dead woman may have suffered from. And he offered little insight into the assisted suicide charge her husband now faces.

"It's a rare charge certainly," Adams admitted. "But based on the evidence presented to us at the time, our investigators felt they had enough grounds to lay the two charges."

Yanisa's death could rekindle the long-standing debate over whether Canada should legalize assisted suicide. But with so few details of the circumstances available, both opponents and proponents of the controversial issue were reluctant to comment.

Alex Schadenberg, of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said it's understandable in the current "economic downturn" that people could become desperate.

"But the answer is not to commit suicide," he said. "The answer is to have the proper support system in place."

Martin Frith, of Dying With Dignity, said it is legal to watch someone end their own life but helping in any way, no matter how small, can result in charges.

Police have so far been unable to track down relatives.

Anyone who knows the couple is urged to call police at 1-807-684-1200.

Link to the article in the Toronto Sun:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/02/10/8332276-sun.html

Ontario police trying to track relatives of alleged assisted suicide woman

Link to the article:
http://news.therecord.com/News_Wire/National/article/484815

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will not comment on this case until there is more information.

The article stated:
THUNDER BAY, Ont. ­ Police were having difficulty Monday finding relatives or friends of a southern Ontario woman they said was the victim of an assisted suicide in Thunder Bay, Ont.

The woman, Yanisa Fonteece, 38, of Waterloo, Ont., was found in a north-end motel room on Friday morning after her husband, Peter Fonteece, 46, called emergency services, police said. "She was located in a motel room and her husband was present," said Chris Adams, a spokesman for the Thunder Bay police service.

"He had actually been the individual who contacted 911 to notify us of the death."

Results of an autopsy done in Toronto over the weekend were not immediately known and further tests would be needed, police added.

Fonteece, who was in custody, faces charges of criminal negligence causing death and assisting a suicide.

He appeared briefly in court on Saturday and was scheduled to appear again on Tuesday.

"There was enough evidence present" to support the charges, Adams said.

Police said they believed the unemployed couple was heading to western Canada in search of work when their car broke down last Monday in Thunder Bay.

They said they had no luck tracking down family or friends of the couple, and were appealing for help from the public.

"We are obviously having a challenge contacting family," Adams said, adding it would be "very useful" for anyone who knew the couple to come forward.

Anyone with information can call Thunder Bay police at 807-684-1200 or contact their local police detachment.

Assisted Suicide charge in Thunder Bay - 2

The report from the national post on the assisted suicide charge in Thunder Bay states that the man was also charged with criminal negligence causing death. The man is scheduled to appear in court in Thunder Bay today.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will not comment until further information is available.

Link to the article:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=1269728

The article from the National Post:
Assisted suicide charges after woman found dead in motel
Canwest News Service - Monday, February 09, 2009

THUNDER BAY, Ont. A 46-year-old Waterloo, Ont., man is scheduled to appear in provincial court Monday to face an assisted suicide charge after Thunder Bay, Ont., police found the body of a 38-year-old woman in a motel Friday.

Thunder Bay police spokesman Chris Adams said the Waterloo man, who was also charged with criminal negligence causing death, was married to the woman, who was found in a room at the Super 8 Motel shortly after 6 a.m. following a 911 call.

Mr. Adams said police have not been able to locate next of kin and plan to release the couple's names sometime Monday.

The couple appeared to have been travelling west in a car when they stopped in Thunder Bay, Mr. Adams said.

Police are also awaiting autopsy results from Toronto, said Mr. Adams.

Police have not said who placed the 911 call, but Mr. Adams said the man was found in the room with the woman.

The man was arrested without incident, said Mr. Adams.

Man charged with assisted suicide in Thunder Bay

Man accused of assisted suicide
Tb News Source - Feb 6, 2009

A Thunder Bay man is in custody and faces charges of assisted suicide after the death of his wife Friday.

Thunder Bay Police Service officers responded to a Memorial Avenue motel with members of the Superior North EMS near 6 a.m. Friday.

Officers and paramedics found a dead 38-year-old woman in a motel room. The woman’s husband was also present and taken into custody by police.

Police cannot release the name of the woman pending notification of her next of kin.

A postmortem examination in Toronto is also still pending.

The woman’s husband now faces charges of criminal negligence causing death and assisted suicide.

Police continue its investigation.

Comment:
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will not comment on this case until we have conclusive information.