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The Doylestown woman, 83, had only days or weeks to live when her husband of 60 years returned home one day in August 2023, and found the car running in their closed garage, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.
The woman had been researching doctor-assisted death options and suicide, and had been receiving hospice care, police said.
And so, when her 90-year-old husband found his wife comatose and barely responsible, because she had discussed with him her intent to end her own life, he did not shut off the car's engine, the DA said.
"He returned to the garage later and found she had no pulse," a release from the DA's office says. "A medical examiner told police any amount of carbon monoxide would have resulted in this woman’s death due to her already fragile state.
"While aiding and/or causing a suicide is a crime under Pennsylvania law, the husband’s actions showed he did neither. The husband did not have a legal requirement to attempt to save his wife. Under the law, he did not commit a crime. Therefore, he will not be charged criminally."
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