California Man, 72, Enters Not Guilty Plea in Wife’s Suicide
A 72-year-old California man who helped his terminally ill wife commit suicide in a Detroit-area hotel room pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of murder and conspiracy.
Detroit Recorders Court Judge Isadore Torres allowed an attorney for Bertram Harper of Loomis, Calif., to enter the plea. Harper is charged with the Aug. 19 death of his 69-year-old wife, Virginia.
The retired chemical engineer earlier this month returned to California to await trial after posting a $25,000 bond and appearing at preliminary hearings.
Virginia Harper, who had cancer, died after swallowing a mixture of pills and placing a plastic bag over her head. An autopsy disclosed that she died of asphyxiation. Harper admitted in a taped police interview that he tied the bag around her neck after she fell into a deep sleep.
Bertram Harper said the family came to Michigan believing that assisted suicide was legal in the state, unlike California, where it is a felony.
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