4.2.12 WC: 191694 that he would end his life with her. When the children learned of this, they pleaded with their father not to take his life. Peter relented. No one tried to talk Patricia out of her decision to commit suicide, for two reasons: first, she had made up her mind; second, it wasn’t really suicide, since her act would only hasten her imminent and painful demise by a few weeks. Patricia selected the day and time of her death and planned a formal farewell dinner for her family. Among those in attendance, in addition to her husband and children, were her stepfather and her two half brothers. There was wine and toasts. Patricia wore an elegant dress and had her nails polished. After dinner they watched the movie Harold and Maude, about an elderly woman who commits suicide to prevent herself from “growing old.” When it was over, Peter Rosier and his wife retired to the bedroom and made love. After bidding farewell to family members, Patricia Rosier took twenty pills that she had selected for her suicide. She quickly fell into a coma, from which she expected never to wake. Had her suicide succeeded, there would have been no case. But soon the coma began to lighten. Peter didn’t know what to do or what to think. Would she awaken or remain comatose? Would there be brain damage? Pain? Emotional turmoil? All Peter knew was that his wife did not want to awaken. What was his obligation to his comatose wife? Would he be breaking his final promise to her if he did not assist her in achieving her goal: a painless and dignified death? He could not ask her advice. The decision was his to make, but it was her decision—she had already made it and acted on it, albeit incompletely. Peter administered morphine, but it was not enough. While Peter was outside the house, pacing and crying, Patricia’s stepfather decided to end her life by suffocating her. He placed his hands over her nose and mouth. She died in her sleep. The stepfather and brothers simply informed Peter that Pat