91 year old woman raided by FBI for selling do-it-yourself suicide kits online.

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Current Events » 91 year old woman raided by FBI for selling do-it-yourself suicide kits online.
CiIantro
12/01/2017
08:58 PM
#1
Should she have been shut down?


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During a May raid on her home in El Cajon, east of San Diego, federal agents seized kits that sold for $40 each and essentially consisted of a plastic bag and clear tubing.

Hydorn said she sold the kits under the name "GLADD Group." Court documents say she sold more than 1,300 kits to people across the United States and abroad. Most of them contacted her by mail or phone.

Hydorn, a retired school teacher, told authorities she knew the kits were intended to be used to commit suicide but she said she thought they would be used by the terminally ill.

Prosecutors, however, said she took no steps to verify the physical condition, age, identity or mental state of her customers and therefore had no idea whether her kits were being bought by people suffering from depression or by minors acting without the consent of an adult.

Prosecutors said Hydorn also tried to hide the true purpose of her kits on U.S. Customs forms by listing them as an "orchid humidifier," or "beauty bonnet" and "plastic rain hood."

After the raid on her home, Hydorn told The Associated Press that she wasn't responsible for who uses the kit and was only trying to help people in pain. She said she had been in business for three years and sold up to 60 kits a month.

According to court documents, Hydorn's helium hood kits consisted of medical-grade tubing, a plastic bag with an elastic collar, or "hood," and a diagram on how to use the kit. The kits caused death by helium asphyxiation once the hood was attached to a helium gas source - which was not part of the kits.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/91-year-old-california-woman-pleads-guilty-selling-suicide-kits-not-paying-taxes-article-1.986264
CiIantro
12/01/2017
08:59 PM
#2
This is a bit of an old story--she is dead now, but there is a tribute page set up by people who appreciate her work. See below:
http://www.hemlocksocietysandiego.org/sharlotte_hydorn.htm

The investigation led to Sharlotte. A week later, at 7:30 AM, she was visited by several armed FBI agents who proceeded to spend the day at her modest home confiscating her files, with the names of the people she had sent Exit Bags to, checks that were laying around, her sewing machine, and, later, to the Post Office where they confiscated the small white boxes with a butterfly on them, waiting to be delivered to people who had sent her a check. Later many of these people were visited by the FBI and local police in their cities and their countries, for "wellness checks" to make sure they were not suicidal. Many of these "authorities" got an earful about how these outspoken "victims" were in good health now and why they were so grateful to have their bag -- in case things got bad and they wanted to make a graceful exit.
CiIantro
12/01/2017
08:59 PM
#3
iirc she started doing it after her husband died a very painful death and was not able to get access to assisted suicide.

EDIT: Yeah--
The Spokane, Wash, native began assisting physicians with patient suicides after her husband, Rex, died of colon cancer, said Charles Goldberg, her attorney. Her husband was in "agonizing pain" and did not want to die "filled with tubes in a hospital."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/92-year-old-retired-school-teacher-faces-sentencing-for-selling-helium-suicide-kits/
Dampproof
12/01/2017
09:03 PM
#4
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, December 3, 2011

Welp.
"Cyberspace is - or can be - a good, friendly and egalitarian place to meet." - Douglas Adams
CiIantro
12/01/2017
09:06 PM
#5
Dampproof posted...
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, December 3, 2011

Welp.

See second post lol
Kaname_Madoka
12/01/2017
09:08 PM
#6
What a crazy old lady.
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ItsYourFault
12/01/2017
09:09 PM
#7
she was a hero
SapphireOfChaos
12/01/2017
09:22 PM
#8
ItsYourFault posted...
she was an hero

Fixed.
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CiIantro
12/01/2017
09:50 PM
#9
bump
Talks
12/01/2017
09:58 PM
#10
They don't come with helium or nitrogen eh

What is the point then
http://i.imgur.com/gBllw.jpg
CiIantro
12/02/2017
12:21 AM
#11
Talks posted...
They don't come with helium or nitrogen eh

What is the point then

You can get helium at any party store.
You can't get a suicide bag.
Zikten
12/02/2017
12:36 AM
#12
I have mixed feelings about this
FreedomEtrtment
12/04/2017
05:35 AM
#13
Dem californians
_Goggalor_
12/04/2017
05:36 AM
#14
No, her actions were heroic.
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I4NRulez
12/04/2017
05:39 AM
#15
CiIantro posted...
During a May raid on her home in El Cajon, east of San Diego


El Cajon is in San Diego
The night brims with defiled scum,and is permeated by their rotten stench.
Just think. Now you're all set to hunt and kill to your heart's content.
Irony
12/04/2017
05:40 AM
#16
She sounds like a psycho
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Inferno Dive Dragoon
12/04/2017
05:45 AM
#17
Not seeing the issue.

Sometimes, suicide really is the only viable option left for some people.
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CatataFish462
12/04/2017
07:44 AM
#18
How many of these kits were used in November of 2016?
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eston
12/04/2017
07:48 AM
#19
Inferno Dive Dragoon posted...
Not seeing the issue.

Sometimes, suicide really is the only viable option left for some people.

This is how I feel. And their reasoning isn't really any of her business or concern. Besides, the method she was selling was one that requires a good deal of pre-planning, so one could surmise that those who used it were pretty damn sure they wanted to die
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i215/estonc/grizzly_bear_chairs_2.jpg http://i.imgur.com/8kjZU.jpg
tremain07
12/04/2017
07:59 AM
#20
Why is this even a crime? She helped people who felt like their lives were no longer worth living and rather than have them commit suicide by cop or do some other dangerous activity she gave them the option of a peaceful and painless end.
I got nothing
Current Events » 91 year old woman raided by FBI for selling do-it-yourself suicide kits online.