A Legacy of Suffering

The following women have committed suicide with assistance from Dr. Jack Kevorkian:

* Janet Adkins, 54, of Portland, Ore., flew to Michigan to die in Kevorkian’s 1968 Volkswagen van in a county park on June 4, 1990. The mother of three had Alzheimer’s disease.

Method: Intravenous drugs.

Legal action: Kevorkian was charged with murder; the case was dismissed by the court because Kevorkian’s actions violated no state laws. The county prosecutor is appealing.

* Marjorie Wantz, 58, of Sodus, Mich., was the mother of two sons and two stepdaughters. She had complained for years of intractable pelvic pain. She died Oct. 23, 1991, in a county park cabin.

Method: Intravenous drugs.

Legal action: Kevorkian charged with murder; case dismissed. On appeal.

* Sherry Miller, 43, of Roseville, Mich., was a divorced mother and estranged from her two children. She had had multiple sclerosis for about eight years and died about a half-hour after Wantz in an adjoining bunk in the park cabin.

Method: Carbon monoxide.

Legal action: Kevorkian charged with murder; case dismissed. On appeal.

* Susan Williams, 52, of Clawson, Mich., died at her home May 15, 1992, in the presence of her four sisters and son. She was blind and had multiple sclerosis for 12 years.

Method: Carbon monoxide.

Legal action: None, pending outcome of appeals.

* Lois Hawes, 52, of Warren, Mich., a divorced mother of four, died Sept. 26, 1992, in the home of a Kevorkian friend. She had terminal lung cancer.

Method: Carbon monoxide.

Legal action: None, pending outcome of appeals.

* Catherine Andreyev, 45, of suburban Pittsburgh, Penn., was a single woman with no siblings; she was driven to Michigan by friends. She died Nov. 23, 1992, in the home of Kevorkian’s friend. She had breast cancer.

Method: Carbon monoxide.

Legal action: None, pending outcome of appeals.