Judge frees woman who aided suicide
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The day after sentencing Solane Verraine to state prison for helping her husband commit suicide, Ulster County Judge Donald Williams apparently had a change of heart.
Williams called the Phoenicia woman back to court on Feb. 22 and resentenced her to five years of probation, with the first six months to be served in Ulster County Jail, county Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Kavanagh said Friday.
Because Verraine had been in jail since the Nov. 9, 2016, death of John Owings Jr., she was released following her resentencing.
Kavanagh said that during the brief proceeding on Feb. 22, Williams said that after seeing Verraine the day before, “he had a change of heart.”
“He indicated that he did not feel a woman in her mid60s who had never been in trouble before belonged in a prison,” Kavanagh said.
Kavanah said as a condition of probation, Williams ordered Verraine to continue to seek mental health treatment.
The final sentence was in keeping with the sentence Kavanagh originally recommended, however Williams said at the time that he wouldn’t consider a sentence that didn’t include state prison time.
Kavanagh then recommended Verraine be sentenced to one to three years in a state facility.
When Verraine pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December, Williams said he would sentence her to two to six years. The longer term was included in the plea deal Verraine was offered.
At her sentencing, though, Williams changed his mind, sentencing Verraine instead to one to three years.
The maximum sentence for second-degree manslaughter is five to 15 years in state prison.
Authorities said Verraine helped Owings, a musician who went by the stage name Johnny Asia, commit suicide by crushing more than 90 prescription pills, mixing them into a large cup of brandy, and giving the concoction to Owings to drink.
Kavanagh said Owings had an extensive medical history, including advanced cirrhosis of the liver resulting from his significant alcohol addiction and a chronic back problem that often left him in excruciating pain.