Final Exit Network Bigwig Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Phoenix Woman's 2007 Death

Description: [of the article from the Phoenix New Times]

Earlier this week, New Jersey resident Roberta Massey, who is one of the four criminal defendants in the highly publicized Maricopa County Superior Court case, pleaded guilty to one count of facilitation to commit manslaughter. The charge is punishable by a short prison term, but probation also is a possibility if Judge Paul McMurdie decides to go that direction. As part of her plea bargain, the 64-year-old woman agreed to testify against the remaining three defendants, including 85-year-old Scottsdale resident Frank Royal Langsner. The original New Times story broke the news of the tragic death of 58-year-old Jana Van Voorhis.

Later, this report says: Roberta Massey was a "case coordinator" for Final Exit at the time if Van Voorhis' death, and authorities alleged that she had assigned Frank Langsner to "assist" the woman in dying. Court records show that Massey told police in a 2009 interview in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, that she had ended her involvement with Final Exit inn early 2008.

[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)

  • http://tinyurl.com/34c8b9p

  • http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/05/final_exit_network_bigwig_plea.php

    Also see:

  • Second person pleads guilty in Arizona assisted suicide case [World right-to-die news list]
    http://lists.opn.org/pipermail/right-to-die_lists.opn.org/2010-May/003885.html
    This entry reprints the Phoenix New Times story, and adds a note: NOTE This story fails to report that another defendant in the case (Wye Hale-Rowe) has already pleaded guilty in January of this year.

  • Elderly Woman Pleads Guilty Plea Today in Phoenix "Assisted-Suicide" Case [EuthaNEWSia: Jan. 12, 2010]
    http://www.euthanewsia.ca/archive/2010/01/enid201001126594.4.html
    Wye Hale-Rowe, 81, pled guilty yesterday in Maricopa County Superior Court to facilitation to commit manslaughter, a felony. Hale-Rowe was one of the four Final Exit Network (FEN) volunteers charged in the 2007 Phoenix, Arizona death of Jana Van Voorhis, a 58-year-old Phoenix woman who died of helium inhalation. Hale-Rowe is a retired family therapist and great-grandmother who now lives in Michigan, and was a FEN exit guide in 2007.

    In striking a plea deal with county prosecutors, Hale-Rowe agreed to testify against the three remaining defendants in the case, an aged Scottsdale man who allegedly also assisted Van Voorhis in killing herself, and two senior Final Exit officials from out of state. Hale-Rowe told us in 2007 that the late Van Voorhis "was in the throes of what we call existential suffering. Even though their physical pain may be managed, just being alive is a burden [to such people]. They're not able to function much with reference to other people."

  • Four Final Exit people indicted in death of Phoenix woman [EuthaNEWSia, May 19, 2009]
    http://www.euthanewsia.ca/archive/2009/05/enid200905192198.4.html
    Four people from the Final Exit Network were indicted Thursday in connection with the April 2007 death of a Phoenix, Arizona woman. Authorities regard the death as assisted suicide. Two of the people are FEN exit guides, one is a regional coordinator, and the fourth is FEN's medical director (who was indicted in February as one of the Georgia Four.)

  • Final Exit Network responds to the Phoenix indictments [EuthaNEWSia, May 19, 2009]
    http://www.euthanewsia.ca/archive/2009/05/enid200905192340.4.html
    On Friday, FEN issued a press release responding to the Phoenix indictments, providing more detail and background. They deny any illegal activity, citing their "carefully crafted guidelines".

    "In the Van Voorhis case, which is typical of FEN cases, the two volunteers responded to the request of a member who had asked for their help to end her life. They did so by instructing her on the methods she could use. They were present when she took her own life but did not actively participate. The investigation was triggered when a relative of the member complained to the Phoenix police after she found that the deceased had changed her will in favor of another person."

Source:

Rubin, Paul. "Final Exit Network Bigwig Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Phoenix Woman's 2007 Death". Phoenix New Times. Friday, May. 21 2010 @ 2:59PM. <blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/05/final_exit_network_bigwig_plea.php>. Phoenix New Times, PO Box 2510, Phoenix, AZ 85002, U.S.A.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • assisted suicide

  • prosecution

  • Final Exit Network

  • Arizona

  • U.S.A.

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201005264390.
Mailed: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 14:22:43 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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