Man guilty of murdering wife in assisted euthanasia

A devoted husband who killed his wife after she begged him to help her die was convicted of murder yesterday. Retired accountant Frank Lund, 58, admitted suffocating his wife Patricia, 65, with a plastic bag and a pillow at their home in New Brighton, Merseyside, in September.

He denied murder on the grounds that Mrs Lund, his wife of 33 years, had persuaded him to help her die after her life was made miserable by an irritable bowel condition. His claims were not contested during a three-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court, in which he was supported by his late wife's relatives.

But the jury was warned to put sympathy aside and judge the defendant on the facts. They were told by Justice Silber to find Lund guilty of murder if they were satisfied that he deliberately killed her.

The jury took three hours to return the guilty verdict, at which Lund showed no emotion. His relatives gave muffled gasps and were thanked by the judge for their "quiet dignified behaviour" during the case.

He remanded Lund into custody and adjourned for sentencing on 24 May.

During the trial, Lund explained that his wife, who had suffered from depression and had attempted suicide five times since the mid-1970s, was "complicated". Although doctors had told the retired teacher that her bowel condition would improve within two years, she found the illness humiliating and restrictive.

He said that he initially refused her requests to help her to die but eventually succumbed in mid-August, shortly after they watched a television programme about euthanasia together. He said: "I don't know why I felt differently. Perhaps it was the accumulation but it did strike a chord with me that it was her choice.

"I went to bed and when I woke up it was absolutely clear in my mind."

Lund said he made a "solemn vow" to his wife that she would die with dignity, in her own bed, on a day of her choosing. He said he also promised she would not wake up in hospital. She asked to die soon after Lund made the vow but he asked her to wait two more weeks, and on the morning of 1 September she said: "Today's the day. I want to do it today."

Lund told the jury: "I knew exactly what she meant because there was no other topic of conversation by then."

Lund bought nearly 100 paracetamol tablets for his wife, along with roses and two farewell cards.

He placed a plastic bag over his wife's head and smothered her with a pillow to kill her.