LIVERPOOL, N.S. - A South Shore a man has turned himself in to the RCMP, saying he gave his terminally ill wife a lethal injection last month to end her suffering.
Before going to police, Stephan Bolton of Liverpool contacted the Chronicle Herald to tell his story, saying he decided to go public to spur public debate about the issue of euthanasia and because he's haunted by his actions.
"I don't have an agenda. I have a guilty conscience," he told the paper Wednesday, before turning himself in to the RCMP detachment in this small town.
Bolton claimed his 59-year-old wife Barbara, who owned a photography business, was suffering from Stage 4 breast cancer and had, at most, two months to live, the report said.
While she wasn't in terrible pain, Bolton said his wife was very depressed. He claimed that on Jan. 22, he gave her a lethal injection of two medications — morphine and Nozinan.
Bolton says he and his wife never discussed the possibility of euthanasia and he didn't ask if she wanted a lethal injection.
Cpl. Grant Webber, a detachment spokesman, confirmed a 56-year-old man turned himself in to the RCMP office Wednesday saying he had been involved in "a possible homicide."
"At this time, no charges have been laid," Webber said.
The officer wouldn't name the man but said he would be held overnight.
Bolton told the newspaper he has been haunted by his actions.
"It's been over a month. Over that month, I tried to live with it and I just can't — not without being told by (some) authority that what I did wasn't wrong," he said. "I am racked by guilt and have to somehow resolve it."
Bolton said he wants to take responsibility for his actions and will accept the outcome if he is charged.