Kevorkian Gets Charged Again for Suicide Aid

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was arraigned Tuesday on a second charge of assisting in a suicide, this time in the death of a man who killed himself while the retired pathologist was free on bond in the first case.

District Judge Richard Manning released Kevorkian on $10,000 bail with the condition that he not assist in any more suicides. A hearing was set for next Tuesday.

Kevorkian waved to cheering spectators as he left the courthouse but had no comment. His attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, said he was confident that Kevorkian would not be convicted.

The latest charge came in the death last Thursday of Donald O’Keefe. The 73-year-old bone cancer victim was the 18th person to die in Kevorkian’s presence.

Police, summoned by an emergency phone call, found O’Keefe dead at his home with a mask and tube over his nose and mouth. A canister of carbon monoxide gas was nearby and Kevorkian was in the house, Police Chief David Parker said.

The call came hours after Kevorkian was bound over for trial in last month’s death of 30-year-old Thomas Hyde Jr., who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Kevorkian has not described what role he played in O’Keefe’s death.

Assistant Prosecutor Tim Kenny asked Tuesday that Kevorkian be held on $250,000 bond.

Michigan’s law against assisted suicide is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine. It was rushed into effect on Feb. 25 in an effort to stop Kevorkian, who had assisted in three suicides the week before.

After assisting in Hyde’s death on Aug. 4, Kevorkian publicly described how he supplied the carbon monoxide and breathing apparatus that Hyde used, in essence asking to be charged because he wants the issue of assisted suicide to be resolved.