Kevorkian Trial Told 2 Women Weren’t Terminal

Two women who committed suicide in front of Dr. Jack Kevorkian weren’t terminally ill, and one of them suffered merely from “phantom pain” that had no physical basis, a coroner testified Friday.

Sherry Miller, 43, had multiple sclerosis but could have lived “years, if not decades,” said L.J. Dragovic, Oakland County medical examiner, at Kevorkian’s assisted-suicide trial.

The other woman, Marjorie Wantz, 58, suffered from a “phantom” or “psychogenic” pain that was perceived by her brain but lacked a physical cause, Dragovic said.

Wantz, who had undergone 10 operations in her pelvic area, continued to feel pain from a damaged organ even after it was removed, Dragovic said, adding that she could have lived beyond age 70.

Wantz had complained of the pain for years. Her son, Robert Mattner, read in court from her notebook: “Please, God, help me die, or give me a miracle.” The entry was dated Oct. 3, 1991, 20 days before she died.

Kevorkian, who was acquitted in two previous trials under a temporary state law enacted specifically to stop him, is charged this time under unwritten common law with helping the two women commit suicide in 1991. He could receive as many as 10 years in prison.

Miller died after inhaling carbon monoxide; Wantz died of an injection of drugs.

Kevorkian was not in court. He had called the proceedings a circus and walked out Thursday.