“Mercy Killing” Murder Suicide Leaves Husband, Wif
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The first article I read:
It happened around 1 p.m. on the fourth floor of the hospital at 17th and Chew Streets in a hospice unit, where terminally ill patients get care.
The D. A. said that staff members heard gunshots and found Mildred Osman, 83, dead in her bed. Her husband Elwood Osman was also found dead in the room.
“I believe staff had heard a first gunshot and then as they were heading towards the room, then a second gunshot. So there was no one else in the room at the time,” said Jim Geiger of Lehigh Valley Health Network.
The D.A. said he believes this was a murder-suicide.
Hospital officials are calling the murder suicide more of “a love story” between a husband and his suffering wife.
The hospital spokesperson says he spoke to family members who say the man loved his wife.
“It’s a love story. The elderly gentleman did not bear to see his wife suffer and the family, I believe, observed that he just could not envision life without her,” said Jim Geiger of Lehigh Valley Health Network.
The Lehigh Valley Health Network released the following statement:
“We wish to confirm today at approximately 1 p.m. a hospice patient was shot and killed by her elderly husband on the hospice inpatient unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital, 17 Street in Allentown. The gentleman died from a self-inflected gunshot wound. According to police, the situation appears to be a discrete incident that was a murder-suicide. No other patients or staff were harmed or threatened. This is a very tragic event and our hearts go out to the family of the deceased and our Lehigh Valley Health Network colleagues who were involved.”
Chuck Lewis, senior vice president, external affairs.
The man walked in the hospital with a gun which was never detected because there are no metal detectors.That has changed as hospital security and Allentown police are beefing up security. The hospital is also looking into upgrading its security.
The hospital spokesperson said no one else was in danger.
Second article, some repetitive information:
Lehigh Valley Hospital officials say a husband and wife are dead after a murder suicide in what officials call an apparent mercy killing.
Police officers swarmed Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Allentown campus after hospital employees reported shots fired on the fourth floor, in the hospice section.
Hospital officials say when entering one of the rooms, workers found two people dead of gunshot wounds.
Ajsha Lamini works at NY Style Stromboli Pizza shop across from the hospital.
“A couple customers did come in a say they saw the commotion there, that there was helicopters and police all around, they explained that there was a shooting,” said Lamini.
Her initial worry was a gunman on the loose with William Allen High School only a block away.
“We
re right here, theres a lot of people walking around and a lot of kids after school, it was one oclock this afternoon it happened,” said Lamini. However the Lehigh County District Attorney says this is a case of murder-suicide. Investigators say Elwood Osman of Northampton County came to the hospital with a gun around 1 p.m. shot his wife Mildred, who was in hospice care, before turning the gun on himself. “Its a love story,” said Jim Geiger with Lehigh Valley Health Network. “The elderly gentleman did not bear to see his wife suffer and the family I believe observed that he just could not envision life without her.”Hospital officials say there was no threat to anyone else in the building at the time of the shooting.
One woman came out to hospital afterwards and said there was no sign anything bad had happened.
“It
s not chaotic or anything, everyones just relaxed, and so forth. I just went in and got prescription and walked out,” she said.<br />Now after learning the truth, people agreed this was a tragic story.
“Yes it is, it`s sad,” said Barbara Quigney of Allentown. “It must be hard for someone to see their spouse suffer and not be able to do anything about it.”
Lehigh Valley Hospital officials confirmed the hospital in Allentown does not have metal detectors at the entrances, however they do use wands if there is a concern for weapons.
Both articles courtesy of WNEP Newswatch 16. Other articles can be found elsewhere as well.
This is sad. The wife was going to die, and the husband couldn't live without her, so they died together. It's a shame, but at least they're together for all of eternity.
They call this a "love story" yet I see no evidence the wife wished to die and if she didn't then this is very much the complete opposite of a love story.
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Either way, I find it more disturbing that people can be so relaxed with a murder-suicide??
I don't know if we'll ever know the truth about this, but ... well, it's done. What more can be done? Nobody can bring the two back and it's not like they can really charge anyone for the murder (if that's what it was; I don't consider euthanasia "murder"), except perhaps those who were negligent and let this guy get a gun in there.
I'm just glad that the wife isn't suffering anymore (and that the husband doesn't have to watch her die).
Thing is, it did specifically state the wife was in hospice care and in many cases, albeit not all hospice is usually seen as a last resort, especially when the person in hospice care is very, very old. The woman was in her 80s so I don't find it hard to believe that the husband may have seen no other option.
In any case, the woman and her husband are both gone, and at the very least she's no longer suffering. That said, l can't see this as murder in the traditional sense, but more of a case of self-euthanasia and since I've always been a proponent of euthanasia I can't fault someone for what seems like am obvious last resort.
I too am a supporter of euthanasia...I for one don't want to suffer for years and years in my old age, and I don't doubt that's what this was all about. It takes an incredible amount of courage to help someone you love die. You don't want them to suffer, but of course it's hard not to have them with you anymore. It's sad that the husband wasn't brave enough to try to go on without her, but at least neither is suffering anymore. I wish they could stop labeling this as "murder." After all, no one calls it murder when you have to put an ailing pet to sleep...why can't you do the same for a family member?
Wait wait wait. All of you people saying this isn't murder... DUDE. He shot her. Just shot her. There is no explanation, no 'mercy' implied, except mercy towards him in forgiving his lack of explanation. You're all very wrong. You cannot say this is euthanasia anymore than I can say it's murder. And 'self-euthanasia' is the most ridiculous term I've read here. NO NO NO NO. Self? What makes anyone assume she had a choice? Seriously. He obviously did, but her? You're all WRONG, because you know nothing. This is ALL an unknown. Uggghhh so lame to hear about this. It's murder until it has been proven to be something else, despite hearsay. This isn't a discussion about right to life/death. This should be a discussion about his intention. You are a jury... don't be the media. Don't be Rush Limbaugh. Say nothing when you know nothing. It's okay to speculate. Just.... The guy shot her, and then himself. Euthanasia doesn't enter into this story yet. I want to know more.
So said atleast their not suffering anymore... :(
So how do we trial two dead people, Einstein? Reply when you've calmed down and can act a bit more competent than you're showing right now. I don't necessarily agree with how they decided to carry it out, but I know for a fact they wouldn't be allowed any drugs that would have "put them to sleep"---PA doesn't allow human euthanasia/assisted suicide. So really, it was something the couple had probably discussed before acting on it.
We don't know because it's their business, not the world's right to know everything. Everyone despises the paparazzi, yet even commoners can't seem to keep their noses out of everyone's lives either. Pathetic. Show some respect and grievance for the family. Whether it was murder or euthanasia, the couple has simply moved on from this world into the eternal rest. Let it be.
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