Wife in assisted suicide case dies; husband declines comment
LANCASTER (AP) – A coroner says a 73-year-old Pennsylvania woman whose husband is charged with helping her try to kill herself with a prescription drug overdose has died.
Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamontoni tells LNP that 73-year-old Rebecca Benight died Monday at a hospital where she’d been since the allegedly suicide attempt Jan. 22.
Her husband, Philip Benight, of Conestoga, declined comment when contacted at home Monday and his attorney has repeatedly declined comment.
The coroner hasn’t ruled on Rebecca Benight’s death or decided whether to conduct an autopsy.
Police say Philip Benight took her out of ManorCare Health Services and drove her home where he fed the dementia patient pudding laced with painkillers and tranquilizers before also taking pills himself.
The home called police who found the couple unconscious and revived them.