Word: kevorkian
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...Jack Kevorkian's televised killing of Thomas Youk, 52, on 60 Minutes last week had the familiar dramatic arc of an infomercial. Act I presents the vexing problem--baldness, cellulite or, in this case, Youk's advanced-stage Lou Gehrig's disease. In Act II the host touts a miracle solution--hair transplants, Taekwondo or a shot of heart-stopping potassium chloride. In the final act come the gushing testimonials. Youk couldn't play the role of satisfied customer himself--by Act III he was dead--but his wife Melody stepped in. "I don't consider it murder," she told...
After centuries of bad p.r., Death has a media strategy. And its chief spin doctor is named Kevorkian. He's too demonic to be an ideal pitchman. When he bent over Youk with a syringe and asked, "Sleepy, Tom?," the image was bloodcurdling. But he has an unerring sense of what excites journalists--and incites prosecutors. Three days after the 60 Minutes story aired on CBS, Kevorkian got what he had explicitly wished for: he was charged with first-degree murder. Though he has been acquitted three times of helping patients end their life, this time he crossed a significant...
...televised death of Youk, a vintage-car restorer from Waterford Township, Mich., set off a round of finger pointing over the motives behind the performance. Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca, who filed the murder charges last Wednesday, accused Kevorkian of airing the video to satisfy his "attention-starved ego." CBS, meanwhile, faced accusations of exploiting the death for ratings. The segment did help boost the show's numbers--the household rating was up 20% over the season average--during the critical fall sweeps period, which sets local advertising rates. Don Hewitt, 60 Minutes' executive producer, insisted his show wasn...
PONTIAC, Mich.: It looks as if Sunday's "60 Minutes" broadcast was a double suicide after all. After going to the videotape, Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca announced Wednesday that he is charging Dr. Jack Kevorkian with first-degree premeditated murder (as well as criminal assistance to a suicide and delivery of a controlled substance) for his role in the death of Thomas Youk. Kevorkian has walked on murder charges twice before because the states in which the deaths took place had no law against assisted suicide. But on that score, Michigan was ready for him by three weeks...
...possible snag is that Kevorkian's face was not actually shown on the broadcast -- but then again, the good doctor isn't exactly marshaling his legal forces for a vigorous defense. Kevorkian's lawyer, David Gorosh, said today that his client has fired him and wants Wayne State University law professor Robert Sedler to provide legal advice. But just from the sidelines -- Kevorkian wants to represent himself in court. And he's promised that if convicted, he'll starve himself to death in prison. Without anyone else's help...