Right-to-die activists refuse to make deposition

TWO Americans suspected of assisting in the suicide of a Dublin woman have refused to give a deposition that could be used as part of the case to have them extradited to face trial in Ireland.

Reverend George Exoo and his live-in partner Thomas McGurrin were asked to give sworn statements to a federal court in their home state of West Virginia but their lawyers advised against it. Two gardaí are in West Virginia gathering evidence against the two Americans, who have admitted being with Rosemary Toole Gilhooley when she died in a rented apartment in Donnybrook, south Dublin in late January.

Rev Exoo claims he and his partner were in the same room but did not physically assist Ms Gilhooley to kill herself, meaning they did not commit a crime under West Virginia law. Although not returning calls last night, Rev Exoo confidently told the Irish Examiner recently that the case against him was “dead”. Days later he received the summons to appear before the court.

The two gardaí, Detective Superintendent PJ Browne and Detective Sergeant JJ Keane, arrived in West Virginia earlier this week as part of the probe into the death of Ms Gilhooley.

They spoke with a local journalist who interviewed Rev Exoo on his return to the US. The preacher reportedly claimed he did not know assisting in a suicide was a crime in Ireland.

Once a file on the matter is prepared, the Director of Public Prosecutions will decide whether charges should be brought. An extradition request will then be forwarded to the US State Department.

Gardaí firstly face a major task persuading the DPP that the two men, simply by their presence, were “aiding, abetting, procuring or counselling” the dead woman.

And authorities here will then face the further problem of persuading American authorities to extradite the two men as the law on what constitutes assisted suicide differs in Ireland and West Virginia. In the US state it is only a crime if physical help is given.

A long-time advocate of a person’s right to die, Rev Exoo has admitted being with dozens of people when they committed suicide.

There is only one state in the US where a person has that right enshrined in law. However, Rev Exoo said: “The Oregon law suffers because people are supposed to go out and end their lives by themselves. people are extremely grateful that I am present and that I am a minister.”