Man sentenced for assisting in suicide
Associated Press
INDIANA, Pa.
A western Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to one to five years in prison for helping a woman purposely overdose on prescription medications then slowing the police response to ensure she’d die.
Brandon Lee Crowe, 31, of Arnold, was sentenced Monday after acknowledging that he helped 39-year-old Julie Madeley take a fatal dose of the antipsychotic medication Seroquel at her Indiana County home. She died hours later at a Pittsburgh hospital March 28.
District Attorney Patrick Dougherty argued that Crowe also interfered when a state trooper arrived with Madeley’s daughter to check on her. Crowe repeatedly told police Madeley wasn’t home before troopers found her unconscious — and Crowe packing some of Madeley’s jewelry and other property into his car — before he let them enter her apartment after about 15 minutes.
Crowe pleaded guilty in September to charges of aiding suicide and obstructing emergency services after prosecutors dropped charges that he took Madeley’s jewelry and other items and planned to sell them.
“I find troubling your actions at the time this crime took place,” Common Pleas Judge Thomas Bianco said in imposing the sentence.
Crowe apologized, and his attorney, Aaron Ludwig, noted that Crowe has undergone drug and alcohol counseling and taken a parenting class since he was jailed on the charges months ago.
Dougherty filed the rarely used charge — which carries up to 10 years in prison — because further investigation has made it clear Crowe knew Madeley was attempting suicide, including his acknowledgement that her breathing was labored as he kept police from entering her apartment.