May 7, 2012

A 92-year old woman sold 1,300+ suicide kits in an "act of compassion" — without checking whether the customers were terminally ill.

Wayward do-gooder Sharlotte Hydorn faces a year in prison... for failing to file federal tax returns.
Agents who raided her home in suburban San Diego last year found checks that were not cashed and thousands of dollars in cash from buyers, her attorney said.
She wasn't in it for the money... unlike the federal government, which really does expect people to file their tax returns.  
Prosecutors 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. 
Which is all very relevant to the tax charge, no?
Investigators determined that the kits were sold to at least 50 people in San Diego County since 2007 and that four of those people last year used the kits to commit suicide. None was terminally ill, according to investigators....
You can be in the suicide business. Just pay your taxes. This is the world we live in.

21 comments:

kjbe said...

Just people trying to make a buck. It's the times we've lived in for a long time.

traditionalguy said...

I say give her life in prison.

Matt Sablan said...

Article makes it sound like she's getting a good deal, even if she has to pay the $25k.

Anonymous said...

We need a Snuff-It Rule to make sure people like Hydorn pay their fair share.

lemondog said...

Curious on what basis did agents raid her home?

Failure to file income tax return, other?

Triangle Man said...

It's not like she was importing capsuled filled with ground babies.

raf said...

Why do we assume that something labeled "suicide kit" will be used for suicide, rather than murder?

CWJ said...

Another example of the culture of death that has progressively (pun intended) infused itself throughout the West -hand in hand with the "benevolent" state. Note that the problem is not a cavalier attitude toward life and death, but rather a failure to properly pay tribute to the state. Marvelous juxtaposition! Boomers stay active and healthy as long as you can, because like Boxer you'll be sent to the renderers as soon as you stumble.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Doing it with helium seems much more considerate of others than a shotgun.

A preparatory enema shows you care.

The Crack Emcee said...

You can be in the suicide business. Just pay your taxes. This is the world we live in.

I know - it's called The NewAge (rhymes with "sewage") and it's been going on for some time now. Look around:

We're committing suicide, in so many ways, it's a wonder anyone can claim to really be living at all.

False hope is the killer no one can afford,...

Mitchell said:

Doing it with helium seems much more considerate of others than a shotgun.

Yeah, dying with a Donald Duck voice is ALWAYS the way to go,...

edutcher said...

Another Angel of Death.

Her and Al Capone.

wyo sis said...

Now we must die, be considerate enough to do it in a clean and tidy way, and make sure taxes are properly accounted. No need to verify if the dying person had a "good reason." It's getting to be too much trouble. Might as well live.

Blue@9 said...

Another example of the culture of death that has progressively (pun intended) infused itself throughout the West -hand in hand with the "benevolent" state.

No, this is evidence of a culture of freedom. The state is the one peering into living rooms trying to make sure you don't kill a state asset.

I'm no fan of suicide, but I think people should own their own bodies and their own lives.

Wince said...

Anyone who kills himself using helium should have his eulogy read in a high-pitch clown voice.

CWJ said...

@blue@9

Yeah, because death is freedom. You really think that you will retain control over that decision? Dream on. I can almost imagine Death is Freedom emblazoned over the doors of every hospice, nursing home, and intensive care ward as the financial pressure to get the oldsters out of the way increases.

Blue@9 said...

Yeah, because death is freedom. You really think that you will retain control over that decision?

The ability to choose death is freedom. We've already lost it insofar as the state declares it illegal for you to try to kill yourself. We seem to agree that we lose freedom once the gov't seizes control of individual decisions over life and death, so not sure why you're arguing with me here.

CWJ said...

Blue@9

I agree that there is much upon which we may agree as regards the state. But read the link. This women appears to have made little or no effort to determine the circumstances of the people buying her suicide kits. That's not compassion or facilitating an informed choice, but rather a disturbing fascination with death.

Blue@9 said...

This women appears to have made little or no effort to determine the circumstances of the people buying her suicide kits. That's not compassion or facilitating an informed choice, but rather a disturbing fascination with death.

Why would she have some special duty to determine their circumstances? Again, an individual should have control and responsibility over his own life or death. This is the same issue with gun sales -- is a gun dealer responsible for interviewing a buyer and insuring that the gun will be used properly? Of course not. This woman didn't tell people to kill themselves, she just sold them the tools they might need to accomplish it. People can have any number of reasons - or no reason at all - to kill themselves, but why is it this lady's special duty to play doctor/parent/therapist? It's none of her business, just like it's none of the government's.

Unknown said...

She's helping out in the Quietus.

(I'm reading the chilling Children of Men, by P. D. James)

leslyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sabinal said...

i don't think it's dishonesty. I think it's the truth. That's how they got Capone. He was a murderer and selling illegal booze and they couldn't find any way to get him but through taxes, why not the woman? This took place in WA state and there was no rules restricting what she did, but it must have disturbed them enough to try getting her that way.

Even though I've seen plenty of silliness with our govt I'm not a conspiracy theorist nor a libertarian. Sometimes the govt gets it right or tries too.

I do not feel good about someone selling suicide kits without backup because that's just stupid. You become a possible accessory to a murder. And from reading the article Hydorn looks ans sounds careless.

"He said she had no idea whether her kits were being bought by people suffering from depression or by minors acting without the consent of an adult. One of those who committed suicide with her kit was a 19-year-old boy, Mazza said.

Investigators determined that the kits were sold to at least 50 people in San Diego County since 2007 and that four of those people last year used the kits to commit suicide. None was terminally ill, according to investigators.

Hydorn admitted in her plea deal that she manufactured the kits in her home and sold them for between $40 and $60, but has said she did so because she wanted to give the *terminally ill* the option to decide how they wanted to die."

A teenager killed himself using one of her kits and it does not look like he was terminally ill. Do you really want this woman selling kits??