Saturday, April 25, 2009

Derek Humphry Has Another Teenage Suicide to Put as a Notch on His Book Final Exit

This has happened before and it will happen again. A teenager has apparently committed suicide using the death information contained in Derek Humphry's book Final Exit

Who is Derek Humphry? He founded the Hemlock Society--now Compassion and Choices--with his second wife Ann Wickett, after becoming famous for a book he wrote about assisting the suicide of his first wife, called Jean's Way. Humphry abandoned Wickett when she was diagnosed with breast cancer (as did the rest of the "right to die" community), and she was ultimately befriended by Rita Marker, the hated enemy of "the ultimate civil liberty." Wickett eventually committed suicide, telling Marker in a note that Humphry's first wife Jean had actually died "by suffocation," rather than from the drug coctail Humphry said he gave her to drink. Wickett also told Marker that she and Humphry did a double assisted suicide of her parents, in which her mother was coerced into dying by her father. Read all about it in Marker's Deadly Compassion.)

But I digress. From the story:

A book called "Final Exit" is being blamed for deaths in the metro area and across the country.Suzanne Torregrossa said she found the book lying next to her son's body after he committed suicide back in January.

The book, "Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying," is a how-to guide on various pain-free ways to kill yourself. Torregrossa said her son even referenced the book in his suicide letter. He explained how he would replace the air in his lungs with helium, using a technique he learned in the book.
Don't worry SHSers: Humphry won't miss a wink of sleep. This has happened before and he never does.

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5 Comments:

At April 25, 2009 , Blogger Don Nelson said...

I think Humphrey's comment will keep him from being sued. Could his book be deemed an attractive nussiance? That is, you aren't completely without liability if someone-especially I think kids, get hurt hurt on your property, even though they are the ones breaking trespassing laws. The owner has some liability in that. I doubt it would work here because of speech rights, but it's a wild stab. I suspect it gets laughed out of court. But we could still have the right to blame the guy. If it were not for him, this teen would not be dead. There should be some requirement telling teens they should not consider this until they are 25 years old. I'm sure this is laughable in court, but it's my best shot.

 
At April 25, 2009 , Blogger Wesley J. Smith said...

I think a lawsuit is worth a try, although the First Amendment might get in the way. But the store that sold it to a kid--assuming that is what happened, perhaps a better shot.

 
At April 25, 2009 , Blogger SAFEpres said...

May Derek Humphrey burn in hell.

 
At April 26, 2009 , Blogger T E Fine said...

SAFEpres -

That's up to God, honey. Much as we hate what he's doing, we're supposed to pray for our enemies. So I keep praying he'll wake up one day and realize the harm he's doing. His late second wife seemed to have, even before he left her in the dust. That's something. Nothing turns people away from evil like seeing an evil-doer repent.

 
At April 26, 2009 , Blogger SAFEpres said...

TE-
You're right. We should pray for him. When one is angry it is easy to forget that. Thanks.

 

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