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Giving Death A Hand: The British Columbia Grandmother at the hear of an international network dealing with assisted suicide
Aired November 23,
2005 at 9pm
on CBC-TV

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Watch this story online.
REPORTER: Hana Gartner
PRODUCER: Kit Melmad

WEB EXCLUSIVE

Evelyn Martens speaks about her role in assisted suicide. Read her story and more of her interview with the fifth estate.


LIFE OF EVELYN MARTENS
young Evelyn
Evelyn Martens as a young woman faced poverty and a difficult marriage.
January 1931: Evelyn Martens is born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

1936: Evelyn Martens' father dies leaving the family destitute.

1948: Martens marries her first husband, Jack Batsch. He dies in the Korean War. They have one daughter, Millie.

1953: Martens marries her second husband, Ed Poelzer. They have five children together, but the marriage brings heartache.

1976: Martens divorces Ed Poelzer.

1986: Cornelius, Martens' older brother, is diagnosed with cancer.

"He was in great pain and you couldn't touch his body anywhere - he'd scream. It was a bad death. It was horrible." - Evelyn Martens

1988: Cornelius dies after suffering terribly. His death is a major turning point in Martens' life.

1990: Martens moves to Victoria. A few years later, she joins the Right to Die Society of Canada.

Rosemary Toole
Rosemary Toole, an Irish woman who suffered from depression enjoyed an evening out before her suicide.

November 2001: Evelyn Martens contacts Dr. Libby Wilson in the UK to tell her that Rosemary Toole is seeking help to die. Martens also sells Toole an "exit bag" and puts Toole in contact with Reverend George Exoo.

January 7, 2002: Martens goes to the home of Monique Charest in Duncan, B.C. to be present at her death.

January 11, 2002: The case against Evelyn Martens becomes a major crime file at the RCMP detachment in Duncan, B.C.

January 25, 2002: Rosemary Toole kills herself in Dublin, Ireland. American Minister George Exoo is there. Ireland is seeking his extradition from the United States.

 

Leyanne Burchall
Leyanne Burchell a 57 year-old teacher did not want to wait for stomach cancer to kill her.

June 26, 2002: Martens goes to the home of Leyanne Burchell in Vancouver to be with her while she commits suicide. Martens is unaware that she is being followed by police.

Later that day, RCMP arrest her as she disembarks from the ferry in Victoria. She is charged with assisting in the deaths of Monique Charest and Leyanne Burchell.

October 12, 2004: The trial of Evelyn Martens begins in a Duncan, B.C. courtroom.

November 4, 2004: A jury finds Evelyn Martens not guilty.

 


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