Murder Is Murder, Not Assisted Suicide

Well, no surprise here – if you kill somebody, it’s called murder. No excuses if you claim it was an assisted suicide.

Milwaukie couple's lives disintegrate into a fatal, violent act of desperation

When Terry Daniel Sr. met Lisa Stevie Haynes, she was homeless and living outdoors behind his house. Daniel took her in, and, neighbors said, remained devoted as her health declined. "You don't find very many men who would do what he did for her," neighbor Doris Shanks said. "These are two people who fell through the cracks."

For the past few years, Terry Daniel Sr. and Lisa Haynes used good cheer to camouflage the squeeze of deteriorating health and dwindling finances. They kept up running jokes with neighbors. Their easy banter made them popular at their mobile home park's annual picnics.

But about 10 months ago, their problems finally overwhelmed them. Haynes, 55, saw her epilepsy rage out of control, resulting in seizures so violent that she injured her neck and was forced into a rehab facility. Daniel, 60 and debilitated by a life of hard labor, began using a walker full time. That was hard on both of them because he was Haynes' caregiver.

Feeling desperate and out of choices, they planned a final exit together, police said, and made a recording to explain their reasons. On Feb. 12, Daniel shot Haynes and then himself. Haynes died as planned in their Milwaukie-area mobile home, but Daniel survived a gunshot wound to the chest. He may have ended her suffering, but he turned his own life upside-down, tripping legal and social dominoes that haven't yet settled. more