Canadian man planned to murder wife under guise of 'assisted suicide'

A court in British Columbia (B.C.) has ruled that a Vancouver man no longer has the authority to make medical decisions for his wife, after an inquest revealed that the man planned to murder her against her wishes under the guise of 'assisted suicide.'

Key Takeaways:

• A man identified as T.W. had reportedly pushed his wife with Alzheimer's toward euthanasia, indicating he planned a murder-suicide for both of them if she were not approved.

• His wife did not consent to such a death.

• A court found that he had mistreated her and ruled that he can no longer have control over her medical decisions.

• The court's ruling appears to ignore the reality that he had indicated numerous times that he planned to murder his wife.

The Details:

The Canadian man at the center of the case, identified as T.W., had been tasked with taking care of his 77-year-old wife, E.W., who has Alzheimer's. Court documents show that he had concocted a plan to kill his wife before killing himself, referring to his "death plan" as an alternative form of the country's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) scheme.

E.W. reportedly was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2017, and appointed her husband and daughter as representatives for her health and personal care. As her condition deteriorated, various health care providers were alarmed that T.W. appeared adamant that his wife receive MAiD — and that he planned to murder her if she were not approved.

“T.W. is a strong advocate for MAID and has expressed to various persons that if he and E.W. are eligible for MAID they intend to receive it. T.W. has also overtly and repeatedly informed family, friends and Island Health personnel that if E.W. becomes ineligible for MAID, he intends to end her life and then take his own life,” the court decision said.

Despite this, E.W. stated that she did not wish to die by euthanasia.

READ: Doctors in Canada pressured to push assisted suicide to save government money

“E.W. never expressed agreement with the death plan. On the contrary, E.W. was understandably upset by it. E.W. expressed to (the couple’s daughter) that T.W. was trying to kill her.”

E.W. did apply for MAiD in 2020, but in 2021, a doctor denied her request on the basis that she no longer had the mental capacity to consent to such a death. Regardless, T.W. continued with his plan, paying for a funeral service, purchasing burial plots, and writing obituaries.

In 2022, Island Health exercised emergency powers to remove E.W. from the couple's home, placing her in a long-term care facility. After that point, T.W. reportedly continued to attempt to control her care, calling her at inconvenient hours, dressing her in old, tattered clothes, and monopolizing visiting hours in order to keep her from their daughter and others.

In his ruling, Justice Bradford Smith removed T.W. as E.W.'s medical representative to protect her “against the likelihood of death at the hands of her husband.”

“Having regard to what is in E.W.’s best interest and her lack of cognitive capacity, I find that the only currently tenable solution that will protect E.W. from risk of death or grievous harm is to remove T.W.’s authority as her personal representative,” Smith said in his decision.

Why It Matters:

It is clear through T.W.'s words and actions that he wanted his wife dead — yet the court's response, chalking this up to nothing more than a MAiD violation and simply removing him from making her medical decisions, is an eye-opening look at what can occur when legalized euthanasia takes hold of a society.

Isabel Grant, a law professor at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, spoke to CTV News about the court's ruling, expressing alarm that the court appeared to disregard T.W.'s overt plans to murder his wife as a sort of MAiD violation.

“He is talking about murdering a disabled woman who does not have the ability to protect herself,” Grant noted, adding:

“The death plan is contrary to our murder laws. And I think it’s really important not to have us talk about the murder of elderly people as some slightly improper form of MAID. That’s not what it is. It’s murder. Just because she has a disability does not transform this into something else. This case demonstrates how our MAID regime has normalized death as a response to disability for the elderly."

She also pointed to the fact that this is a classic case of coercion and control, taking issue with the fact that the court did nothing to prevent T.W. from continuing to see his wife.

“He’s describing the planned and deliberate murder of his wife,” she said. “There is no indication that E.W., even when capable, wanted her life to be ended. To the contrary she has expressed fear of this ‘death plan.’ He has made the judgment for her, and it is not his to make.”

The Bottom Line:

As this case shows, people with Alzheimer's or disabilities are especially vulnerable when euthanasia and assisted suicide are presented as an option. Legalized killing disguises coercion and murder as a 'dignified choice.'