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February 17, 2010
British Journalist Ray Gosling Arrested After Admitting to Mercy Killing HIV-Positive Partner
Police in Nottinghamshire, England, arrested documentarian and BBC presenter Ray Gosling on suspicion of murder after he admitted to mercy killing a former partner who was suffering from AIDS-related illness, the BBC reports.
Gosling announced on the February 15 edition of BBC East Midlands’ Inside Out program that several years ago he smothered his partner with a pillow while he was in the hospital “in terrible, terrible pain.” Gosling did not mention the names of his former partner or the hospital.
“Maybe this is the time to share a secret that I have kept for quite a long time,” Gosling, 70, said during a segment about death. “I killed someone once…. He was a young chap. He’d been my lover, and he got AIDS.”
Gosling said he had made a pact with his partner to end his life for him if his suffering increased. Gosling smothered the man in his hospital bed while the doctor was out of the room.
“The doctor came back, and I said, ‘He’s gone,’” Gosling explained. “Nothing more was ever said.”
According to the BBC article, assisted suicide is a criminal offense in England but new guidelines are being issued regarding prosecuting such cases.
