Head of Australian euthanasia ring charged with a second death

An Australian man who headed up a euthanasia ring has been officially charged with a second death, though many more are suspected.

Key Takeaways:

• Brett Daniel Taylor was arrested earlier this year for his role in an illegal euthanasia ring, along with Ian Taylor and Elaine Arch-Rowe.

• The three are accused of trafficking drugs used in veterinary euthanasia, which are believed to have caused the deaths of at least 20 people.

• Taylor was officially charged with the death of one man and has since been linked to another death.

• Assisted suicide is legal in every state in Australia.

The Backstory:

Taylor, along with his father, Ian, and Arch-Rowe, allegedly created a fake whale charity — Cetacean Compassion Australia Ltd, a non-profit purported to euthanize beached whales. The charity was said to be a front for the euthanasia ring and sold drugs used in veterinary euthanasia to kill people.

Taylor also allegedly posed as a lawyer, preparing wills and legal documents. He allegedly sold pentobarbitone, a veterinary drug that was found in the system of a 43-year-old man discovered dead in his home. While the drug is mainly used for the euthanasia of animals, it is occasionally used in assisted suicide as well.

Authorities believe as many as 20 people may have been killed through the fake non-profit.

The Details:

Taylor was charged earlier this year with one death and police have now filed nine additional charges, including one count of aiding suicide in relation to the death of a 75-year-old man.

Detective Inspector Mark Mooney said authorities still believe there are 20 people who have been killed through Taylor's euthanasia ring, though they can't charge him yet. "We believe the accused has had contact with all 20 deaths, which is why we investigated," he said. "We have insufficient evidence to commence charges for those 18 other deaths."

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He is urging people to come forward with information.

"If any other families or people want to come forward and provide us information if they've had dealings with (Mr Taylor), then we invite that," he said. "If we do not receive any further information from the public, this will end our investigation into the deaths."

Why It Matters:

Most people who request assisted suicide are afraid of losing their autonomy and of not being able to enjoy life as they did before. They also fear becoming a burden on their loved ones. Contrary to popular belief, request for assisted death are not typically based on a wish to avoid a long, painful death and die with "dignity."

Assisted suicide is not as peaceful as many assume.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia are committed using the same drugs previously used in lethal injection executions in the United States, and can be far more grisly than many realize.

A study in the medical journal "Anaesthesia" found that long, painful deaths from assisted suicide and euthanasia are common, with a third of patients taking 30 hours to die. Four percent took seven days to die. Experiments with assisted suicide and euthanasia were also excruciating; one cocktail was said to be “burning patients’ mouths and throats, causing some to scream in pain.”

“The death penalty is not the same as assisted dying, of course. Executions are meant to be punishment; euthanasia is about relief from suffering,” Dr. Joel Zivot, an associate professor of anesthesiology and surgery at the Emory School of Medicine, said in a previous op-ed. “Yet for both euthanasia and executions, paralytic drugs are used. These drugs, given in high enough doses, mean that a patient cannot move a muscle, cannot express any outward or visible sign of pain. But that doesn’t mean that he or she is free from suffering.”

The Bottom Line:

Pentobarbitone, which Taylor sold, causes pulmonary edema, in which the lungs fill with fluid; this means victims drown to death in their own secretions. In typical assisted suicides, the person is given a paralytic first, making the death seem peaceful; in reality, it only masks the person's suffering.