in it. I loaded it with one shell, pulled the clip out. Well, then I shot her in the head. I felt her pulse, I could still feel it. I though, Oh, my God, I loused it up. I went back to the shop. This time I was shaking. I wasn't cold as ice at all. Back to the shop, put another round in the gun, came back, put another bullet in her head. The only comforting thing, the first shot there was no convulsive reaction, just her right hand shook like that fast and her head went over the impacted bullet and it slowly came down, didn't make any noise except her mouth just opened slowly like that and then, you know, I thought it hit so fast she didn't know what happened. Then I felt her pulse. It turned out I was wrong. The pulse keeps going after this episode for a few minutes anyway. I didn't know that. I just though I had, you know--and the second time I fired I felt the pulse seemed to be gone. So I somehow got to the telephone and called the security guard downstairs and I said, "I just killed my wife." The whole thing was a mess and the only solution to me was to terminate her suffering. That's all. I didn't consider what would happen to me. The only important thing was to end her suffering. I could take care of whatever happens to me and it's happening right now and that was of no consequence to me. Sure, I know I was breaking the law but there seems to be things more important than the law, at least to me in my private tragedy. So it's murder. So what? Roswell believed that using a gun was the most merciful way of killing his wife, and further testified that he had never talked with Emily about killing her. He also stated that he shot her from behind so that she would not see the gun. Doctors testified that Emily could have lived for another five to ten years. Opinion of the court The court held that euthanasia, or "mercy killing," is not a defense to first-degree or premeditated murder. The court acknowledged the fact that Roswell had been a peaceful and law-abiding citizen up until this offense. But, the statutory mandatory minimum sentences do not take these issues