Euthanasia activist on murder rap
A professor campaigning for the legalisation of euthanasia could be linked to other similar murders, the National Prosecuting Authority has claimed. He previously gave his terminally ill mother a lethal injection.
Professor Sean Davison, who heads the Forensic DNA Laboratory at the University of the Western Cape, was arrested on Tuesday after police conducted a search and seizure operation and confiscated several items. He spent the night in police cells.
The 57-year-old father of three made international headlines in 2010 after giving his mother, who was suffering from terminal cancer, a lethal dose of morphine. For that, he spent five months under house arrest in New Zealand.
In the latest case, the murder relates to the death of his friend Anrich Burger, 43, in 2013, who became a quadriplegic after a car accident.
Davison founded Dignity South Africa in 2011 to campaign for the legalisation of euthanasia in South Africa.
A statement released by the National Prosecuting Authority said it had come to the police’s attention that he planned to leave South Africa this month.
It also said “new information” obtained suggested Davison may have committed murders in a similar fashion on more than one occasion.
Yesterday, in an affidavit submitted to the court, Davison said if he was not released on bail, his reputation as an academic would be “severely jeopardised”.
He said the financial burden of his household fell on his shoulders as his wife took care of their children and if incarcerated, he feared they would not survive financially.
Davison undertook not to interfere in the investigation and stated his intention to plead not guilty.
He was released on R20 000 bail with strict conditions, which include reporting to the Pinelands police station weekly, handing in his passport and travel documents, and not leaving the Western Cape.
The case was postponed to November 16 to give the police time to investigate the items seized during the search of Davison’s house. – ANA
The 57-year-old father of three made international headlines in 2010 after giving his mother, who was suffering from terminal cancer, a lethal dose of morphine.