Kevorkian back in prison after temporary release for surgery

Associated Press
Feb 7 2005

LAPEER — Assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian is back in prison
after undergoing surgery for a double hernia, his attorney said Monday.

Mayer Morganroth said Kevorkian returned to the Thumb Correctional
Facility in Lapeer on Sunday. Morganroth said Kevorkian is in pain and
will receive some follow-up treatment, but he didn’t know if Kevorkian
would be released again or if he would be treated at the prison.

“They don’t really tell us. They just grab him and take him to the
hospital,” Morganroth said.

Kevorkian, 76, is serving a 10- to 25-year sentence for second-degree
murder after being convicted of giving a fatal injection of drugs to
a Lou Gehrig’s disease patient in 1998.

He was released from prison last Thursday and underwent surgery Friday
at Foote Hospital in Jackson. Kevorkian was kept in a separate wing
apart from other patients and was under constant guard.

Kevorkian said his cell had been cleared of his books and other
belongings when he returned Sunday, Morganroth said. Morganroth said
the prison cleaned it out for security reasons but was returning
Kevorkian’s belongings on Monday.

Kevorkian has said he assisted in at least 130 deaths, but has
promised in affidavits and requests for pardon or commutation that
he will not assist in a suicide if he is released from prison. He is
eligible for parole in 2007.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said she won’t consider pardoning Kevorkian.