PRESS RELEASE from the Final Exit Network
May 14, 2012
MINNESOTA PROSECUTOR OBTAINS GRAND JURY
INDICTMENT OF FINAL EXIT NETWORK AND FOUR
OF ITS VOLUNTEERS
HASTINGS, Minnesota — James Backstrom, the Dakota County prosecutor, called a press conference to deny that he has initiated a war on the right-to-die movement by securing a 17-count indictment against Final Exit Network and four of its volunteers.
As Final Exit Network had predicted, the grant jury handed down the indictment on Friday, May 11, 2012. But the indictment remained sealed until Monday, when Backstrom called a 3 p.m. press conference to release the indictment and plenty of misinformation about Final Exit Network.
“It is appalling that the government would spend so much of its resources in this political prosecution,†said Final Exit Network’s president, Wendell Stephenson. “We look forward to an opportunity to bring out the truth about Final Exit Network’s compassionate volunteers in court.â€
The indictment charges Final Exit Network, Inc., a nonprofit corporation approved by the Internal Revenue Service to receive tax deductible contributions; two former presidents, Ted Goodwin, 65, of suburban Atlanta and Punta Gorda, Florida; Jerry Dincin, 81, of suburban Chicago; a former medical director, Dr. Larry Egbert, 83, of Baltimore; and a former case coordinator, Roberta Massey, 66, of Delaware.
Dincin and Egbert are alleged to have been present, serving as Exit Guides, at the death of Doreen Nan (Gunderson) Dunn, 57, who died at her home in Apple Valley, Minnesota on May 30, 2007. FEN, Dincin, and Egbert were each charged in the indictment with four counts: Advising, encouraging, or aiding in a suicide; aiding, abetting, or conspiring with others in the foregoing; interfering “with the body or scene of death with intent to mislead the coroner or conceal evidenceâ€; and aiding, abetting, or conspiring with others in the foregoing. Dincin and Egbert face potential sentences of 32 years in prison and fines of up to $66,000. FEN faces the fines plus the threat that its corporate charter could be voided.
Massey was indicted on three charges: Advising, encouraging, or aiding in a suicide; aiding, abetting, or conspiring with others in the foregoing; and aiding, abetting, or conspiring with others in the crime of interfering “with the body or scene of death with intent to mislead the coroner or conceal evidence.†She faces up to 31 years in prison and a fine of up to $63,000.
Goodwin was indicted on two charges: aiding, abetting, or conspiring with others in the advising, encouraging, or aiding in a suicide; and aiding, abetting, or conspiring with others in the crime of interfering “with the body or scene of death with intent to mislead the coroner or conceal evidence.†Goodwin faces up to 16 years in prison and a fine of up to $33,000.
