Kevorkian to leave prison

DETROIT (MCT) — A compassionate doctor to some, a ghoulish murderer to others, Jack Kevorkian will, in less than six months, become something he hasn't been for more than eight years — a free man.

Kevorkian, a frail 78-year-old, was granted parole Wednesday by two members of the Michigan Parole Board after he promised not to conduct any more assisted suicides. He will be eligible for release June 1.

Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said he would not appeal.

"He has served his minimum term, and I did not object to his release," Gorcyca said. "I'm certainly not particularly surprised, just due to his alleged health concerns."

Known as the assisted suicide doctor and Dr. Death, Kevorkian said he had helped at least 130 terminally or chronically ill people die during the 1990s, though he told parole board chairman John Rubitschun that he turned down six or seven prospective patients for every one he helped.

He told Rubitschun he would push for the legalization of assisted suicide after his release but promised to not participate in any form of assisted suicide or euthanasia.

"You can put any conditions you want on me. I'm not going to do it again," Kevorkian said in a Dec. 7 hearing, according to an account based on notes from the meeting. "Anything that will bring me back to prison, I will avoid. Prison is not a place a live."

Kevorkian was convicted in 1999 of second-degree murder in the Sept. 17, 1998, death of Thomas Youk, 52, a victim of the debilitating Lou Gehrig's disease.

The death was different than others on two counts. First, it was videotaped and aired on the CBS show "60 Minutes." Second, Youk was unable to press the button to deliver a fatal dose of drugs, and the tape showed Kevorkian doing it for him, which provided prosecutors with evidence that Kevorkian had stepped past the assisted-suicide line.

Kevorkian's defiant approach brought physician-assisted suicide to the national spotlight. In 1998, an Oregon law went into effect legalizing the practice. But Michigan passed a law in 1999 banning it.

Kevorkian said he should have gone the legal route to advocate for assisted suicide.

"If I had to do it again, I would have done it that way," he said.