‘Not guilty’ plea in Phoenicia death
Prosecutor says wife aided suicide with mix of alcohol and more than 90 pills
Solane Verraine, the Phoenicia woman accused of helping her husband commit suicide, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter Friday in Ulster County Court.
Verraine stood silently as she appeared before Ulster County Judge Donald A. Williams. Her attorney, Kevin Harpp, entered the plea on her behalf.
Verraine is accused of “intentionally causing or aiding John Owings Jr. to commit suicide,” according to the indictment against her. Assisted suicide is not legal in New York state.
Owings, 65, a musician who went by the stage name Johnny Asia, died Nov. 19, 2016, in the couple’s apartment at 46 Route
214 in Phoenicia. Verraine was arrested the same day.
The 63-year-old woman initially was charged with the more serious crime of second-degree murder because “there were some very unusual circumstances that presented at the beginning of the investigation, including inconsistent statements by Solane,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Kavanagh said Friday. He said once investigators were able to gather all the facts surrounding Owings’ death, “it became apparent she was not responsible for Mr. Owings’ death but she clearly did assist in Mr. Owings’
suicide.”
The District Attorney’s Office announced on April 21 that a grand jury had indicted Verraine for manslaughter.
Kavanagh said Owings suffered from severe chronic back pain that caused him to suffer mobility issues “to the point where [emergency medical services] was frequently called to his apartment.” He said Owings also was a severe alcoholic, which “we believe was attributable to the severe pain he was in.”
Prosecutors believe that on the day of Owings’ death, Verraine crushed more than 90 different prescription pills — some his, some hers — mixed them into a large cup of brandy and gave the concoction to
Owings, who drank it, Kavanagh said.
On her Facebook page the night Owings died, Verraine posted: “Please ... light a candle for Johnny that he pass into the light. Thank you. [W]ith all my heart.”
Authorities in November said it was Verraine who notified police about Owings’ death. They also said she had no prior criminal record.
Following her arraignment, Verraine was sent back to the Ulster County Jail, where she has been without bail since her arrest. If convicted of manslaughter, Verraine could be sentenced to as little as probation or a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in state prison.