Hills Chief Recalls Frustration with 1997 Suicides

Chief Chuck Nebus was an investigator in 1997 when three assisted suicides in the community were tied to Dr. Jack Kevorkian,

According to a report published in the Sept. 4, 1997 issue of the Farmington Observer, a 55-year-old man from Colorado who suffered from multiple sclerosis, 73-year-old Farmington Hills resident and pancreatic cancer patient Janet Good, whose husband, Ray, was a retired lieutenant with the Detroit Police Department, and a 34-year-old New York woman also suffering from multiple sclerosis, all died within weeks of each other at various locations in the city.

The two out-of-state residents died in local motels; each left a note that connected the death with Kevorkian.

While it was nearly 14 years ago, Nebus still remembers the New York resident who was found dead at the Holiday Inn on 10 Mile Road, which has since been torn down.

"There was no need for her to take her life," he said. "She was suffering from depression related to her having multiple sclerosis. The people at the hotel said she walked in ... they remembered her joking with them and being very nice."

Nebus also remembers a "very sarcastic note from Dr. Kevorkian, taunting the police" found at the scene. "It was very derogatory toward law enforcement," he said.

Assisted suicide is illegal in Michigan; only three states, Oregon, Washington and Montana have laws permitting it.

While it wasn't his job to make judgments about assisted suicide, Nebus said, "The hardest part was dealing with someone who was young and ... to see the difficulty for the families. To see that was very sad, because life is so precious. That's the impact it had on me."

Oakland County Commissioner Bill Dwyer, who was Farmington Hills police chief in 1997, remembers feelings of frustration over the three death investigations.

"The frustrations were that you couldn't get a prosecution out of it at that time," he said. "Prosecutors were not issuing the warrants."

Dwyer wasn't clear why his department was unable to get those warrants. He said investigators treated the deaths like homicides. In the Observer story, Dwyer said the bodies were found without identification, which prompted full investigations to determine identities and cause of death.

Dwyer was at all three scenes, including the home of Janet Good. It surprised Dwyer that Ray Good, his former supervisor when they were both with the Detroit Police, would be connected in any way with assisted suicide.

"Apparently, she had pretty well convinced him this was the way it was going to be," Dwyer said. "Of course, she was dying, and that was heavy on his shoulders, heavy on his heart."