
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 7, 1994                   TAG: 9409070140
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: MIAMI                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN WHO KILLED SUFFERING WIFE DIES AT 85

Roswell Gilbert, a retired engineer who shot his ailing wife in 1985 and then was jailed for her mercy killing, died in his sleep Saturday in his daughter's Maryland home.

Gilbert, whose act catapulted elderly euthanasia to the national agenda and is credited with raising awareness of Alzheimer's disease, was 85.

His wife was disoriented by Alzheimer's and wracked with pain from a bone disease when Gilbert shot her in the head March 5, 1985.

He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years for first-degree murder, but in August 1990, then-Gov. Bob Martinez freed him.

by CNB