Doctor Death

Friday, December 23, 2005, the Michigan Parole Board rejected a request to pardon or commute the sentence of assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, despite warnings that he is in grave condition. The 77-year-old former doctor is serving a 10 to 25 year prison sentence for second degree murder out of Oakland county with a reputation for aggressively pursuing prosecutions. Whether a champion of a person's right to choose or a serial killer, this modern day curiosity drove the debate over whether or not we have the inherent right to determine when and how we die.

For a man that held such a large public stature, he is actually a very diminutive man, short and gaunt. A pair of large eyeglasses detract attention from a skeletal face that could have cast him in a Tim Burton movie. Jack appears frail and despite his stature is quite soft-spoken. In prison the rough shaven man lives the life of a loner and recluse. A couple of parole violators for petty crimes took him under their wing and helped him adjust to his surroundings.

One of the funniest tales they shared with me was of Jack sitting at a table with them in the chow hall as they "taught" him how to sneak what he couldn't eat at meal time out of the dining room to take to his cell to consume at a later time. I am told he proceeded to stuff a peanut butter sandwich wrapped in a napkin down his pants to take back to his cell. Apparently breaking rules is so out of character for Jack that he wears his anxiety over such indiscretions on his shoulders resulting in his being "shook down" and the contraband food confiscated.

Is Jack Kevorkian a "continuing risk to the community?" Perhaps there is irony in this latest set back by the parole board and the refusal of Governor Granholm to issue a pardon as ultimately it is likely to hasten or assist Doctor Death's own death.

Copyright 2006 Don Neale, Jr.
All rights reserved.