Thursday, May 24, 2012
Police investigate murder-suicide involving retired officer
POSTED: 01:15 p.m. HST, Feb 12, 2012
LAST UPDATED: 02:50 p.m. HST, Feb 13, 2012
A retired Honolulu Police officer apparently shot his ill wife in Hawaii Kai Sunday and then turned the weapon on himself in what appears to be a murder-suicide, police said.
The Medical Examiner’s Office identified the couple as Leighton Yasuhara, 81, and his wife Julia, 79.
A Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman confirmed that Yasuhara served on the police force.
Police said Yasuhara’s son heard three gunshots coming from their bedroom when he checked on them after his father unexpectedly cancelled an appointment Sunday morning.
The man went to his parent’s Anakua Street home at about 11 a.m. and tried to get into the bedroom after hearing the shots, but the door was locked, police said. He called 911 and police discovered what appeared to be a murder-suicide.
An autopsy will be conducted today to determine the cause of death.
The couple was unresponsive and paramedics at the scene made the death pronouncement.
The woman was suffering from a long-term illness, police said.
A spokesman for Aha Hui O Na Makai Hauola, a club for retired Honolulu Police officers, said Yasuhara “was very close” to his wife. “I can understand he would want to be with her.”
Not sure why an option being "the easy way out" counts AGAINST it rather than in its favor? We take "the easy way out" with our dogs and cats when they are dying. Why is it ok to be "humane" with our dying pets but not with our dying family members? When my time comes, I want to be the one who decides which way is the easier path and whether the value of being kept alive merits the pain and suffering.
I have talked with both of my parents and they are strong advocates for NOT prolonging their lives by artificial means when the quality of their life degrades too much. Determining that point is difficult in practice. But in my view, it is unquestionably the right of the patient to make that call, hopefully in consultation with their loved ones and doctor. Unfortunately, most dying people are no longer in a position to make the choice for themselves or lack the strength and means to carry out their intentional dying without assistance.
The LAST people who should butt in on these difficult decisions without an invitation are the politicians and the priests. If the clergy are invited to help the patient discuss the meaning of life and the significance of death, or to help the person and their family come to terms with their passing, hallelujah! But just because the Catholic Church is able to exert political pressure on politicians fearful of being re-elected in certain districts, should not empower them to impose their religious views on my dying loved ones.
@walaau808,
I'm not sure there is an EASY way out under these conditions. But why wouldn't we WANT people to have an EASIER option under such circumstances? I would think "easier" would be a plus here, not an objection.
I believe it is "a fundamental human right" for people to decide when and how they die WHEN their condition is terminal and their suffering is such that it makes living miserable. I believe we have an obligation to try to prevent people from committing suicide when they are depressed or distraught, so I hope people WILL intervene when people try to end their lives out of despair. But that points to the need for establishing reasonable safeguards, as they have done in places like Oregon, where the legal right to end one's suffering has been recognized.
Rather than force people to suffer needlessly through prolonged dying, I think we are capable-- and there is a place for clergy to become involved-- of creating humane processes to aid the dying in making their own choice in the matter and to help family and friends come to terms with their dying, to say good by while the person is still alive, rather than in a memorial service afterwards. Forcing a husband to use a gun, and then commit suicide himself, as APPEARS to be the case here, demonstrates the irrationality of allowing priests and politicians to dictate the law, rather than family members, doctors and more helpful clergy.
Bishop Larry SIlva actually said there is no need to allow doctors to prescribe medicines which could end a suffering patients life because one can already commit suicide by using a gun! Without knowing more about the challenges facing this couple, I am hesitant to jump to conclusions. But allowing Physician Assistance in dying may have allowed this husband an opportunity to say good by to his wife in a supportive, less shameful, less violent manner. And he might still be alive himself.
One of the interesting results from research conducted on the "Death With Dignity" law in Oregon has been on the emotional differences between a regular "suicide" and a physician assisted death. In a suicide, family survivors are generally emotionally torn up and guilt-ridden, often to the end of their lives. The opposite is true with Death With Dignity. Family members generally feel supportive and calm in the recognition the pain of their loved one is over AND that it was in accordance with the dying person's own wishes. While there is sadness over the passing of the loved one, the healing process is much faster than either with a suicide or with the traditional, dragged out process of dying.
Again, I do not know the family in this case nor the particulars. But on its face, it appears to have become much more tragic and painful than was necessary. As compassionate people, we should work to provide more reasonable "end of life" solutions for our friends, neighbors and family members.
