Man helps terminally ill wife kill herself by steadying gun to her head while she pulled the trigger after she loses will to live
A man has been charged with manslaughter for assisting his terminally ill wife to kill herself. The 65-year-old Kevin Connors' wife, Lori, was battling cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. However, she also had Lyme disease and no longer wanted to live. Connors reportedly helped his wife steady a gun to her head as she pulled the trigger since Lori had been so weak that she couldn't do it on her own. She killed herself in September last year at their home in Westbrook, Connecticut.
Connors, a retired Department of Corrections officer, called 911 after the incident and told authorities that she had shot herself and that he had been awakened by the sound of the shot. However, he later revealed that he had helped her. According to The Hartford Courant, Lori has explained her decision to die in her 16 handwritten notes. She had been diagnosed in 2017 with ovarian cancer that went on to take over her liver, colon, and abdomen. Her Lyme disease made the condition worse, with the cancer treatment becoming incompatible with it.
She has written about her love for her husband and family and her faith. She has described that she didn't want to live anymore. She had tried to kill herself earlier but had been unsuccessful, so on the day that she died, she had asked for her husband's help. Connors said that when she died, she had become so weak that she couldn't even cry. The case has brought up the question of whether assisted suicide should be legal across the country.
"Lori Hedges Conners, 61, of Westbrook, CT, went to be with the Lord on September 6, 2018, after a hard-fought battle with cancer," her obituary said. "Her final days were spent with her loved ones by her side, and as anyone who knows her would expect, this is all she wanted not only during this time but throughout her entire life, as her family was her source of true joy and contentment. She will be dearly missed, and we will all grieve the loss for a long time. We can, however, find solace in knowing her suffering is no more. She is finally free from her illness and with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."