Final Exit doctor cleared in Arizona death

PHOENIX - A member of Georgia's Final Exit Network has been cleared of manslaughter charges in connection with an assisted suicide in Arizona.

An Arizona jury on Thursday acquitted Dr. Lawrence Egbert in the suicide of Jana Van Voorhis, who authorities say had help killing herself. Egbert, who also is indicted in Georgia on charges that he helped a Cumming man with cancer kill himself, was one of four people charged by Arizona authorities in Van Voorhis' death. Jurors could not reach a verdict for a co-defendant, Frank Langsner.

Maricopa County prosecutors said the other two defendants in the case Wye Hale-Rowe and Roberta Massey had pleaded guilty to one count of facilitation to commit manslaughter and agreed to testify in the case.

Authorities said the four are part of the Georgia-based right-to-die organization Final Exit Network, which has been investigated by the FBI and authorities in Arizona and seven other states.

Authorities believe Van Voorhis placed a plastic hood over her head that was hooked up to helium tanks. She was found dead in her Phoenix home on April 15, 2007. Prosecutors said Van Voorhis was not terminally ill at the time of her death, but suffered from mental-health issues and depression.

Langsner and Hale-Rowe were accused of showing Van Voorhis how to use the hood and tank. Egbert and Massey's alleged involvement was through their work in processing applications to the organization, which is suspected of assisting other suicides in Arizona.

Although an initial autopsy showed Van Voorhis died of natural causes, another autopsy revealed her death was from helium asphyxiation. An investigation by Phoenix police uncovered Van Voorhis' involvement with the Final Exit Network.

A May 9 status conference is scheduled for Langsner's retrial.