Kevorkian Assists in 27th Suicide, That of a Multiple Sclerosis Victim

PONTIAC, Mich. —  Dr. Jack Kevorkian took part in suicide No. 27, that of a 48-year-old woman with multiple sclerosis whose bathrobe-clad body was found in Kevorkian’s battered van outside the coroner’s office Monday.

Linda Henslee, 48, a former computer engineer from Beloit, Wis., died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Medical Examiner L.J. Dragovic said.

“There’s no observation of dignity to have the body of a woman dropped off at the morgue at 6 in the morning on a freezing day. It shows a ghoulish disrespect for the sanctity of human life,” prosecutor Lawrence Bunting said.

It was unavoidable, said Geoffrey Fieger, the lawyer for the 67-year-old retired pathologist. He indicated that nursing homes, hospices and funeral homes have been unwilling to deal with the bodies.

Fieger refused to say how, where or when the woman died. He said she was brought to Michigan last week by two daughters and a friend. The three, with Kevorkian, were present when she died.

“She expressed a constant, unwavering desire to end the suffering that she had been going through for the last 20 years,” Fieger told reporters at a news conference in Ann Arbor, Mich. “There were extensive counseling sessions over the past few days with Dr. Kevorkian, with her daughters, and with Linda.”

Fieger said it was coincidence that Henslee died two weeks before Kevorkian’s trial on assisted suicide charges in two 1993 deaths. He also faces charges in two other deaths. No immediate charges were filed in Monday’s death.