September 7, 2014

Recluse Rupert Ward buried suicide drug

Paige Taylor, WA Bureau Chief, The Australian

A RECLUSE on Western Australia’s south coast will appear in a country court today charged with possessing the suicide drug Nembutal, ­believed to be the first Australian prosecuted for possessing the Chinese import.

Rupert Ward, 68, said he would plead guilty to the charge in Albany District Court this morning after tests settled confusion over whether the ingredients in the drug he ordered on the internet were even illegal.

Mr Ward said he enjoyed his life very much and was in reasonable health. He rode his tricycle every afternoon and wanted to live forever.

But he said he paid $400 for 6g of Nembutal and buried it in his backyard as a contingency.

Mr Ward will be supported in court today by euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke, the director of Exit International, who has been suspended by the Medical Board of Australia for suicide advocacy.

When the board used its emergency powers to suspend Dr Nitschke it said he presented “a serious risk to public health and safety”.

It had taken into account grieving mother Judi Taylor, who says her son Lucas was “death coached” on Dr Nitschke’s online forum before he was found dead in a German park.

Mr Ward said he felt his situation was very different to someone who was interested in killing themselves.

But he said he was very interested in stories about death and dying.

He said he admitted everything to police when they went to his home to conduct a welfare check three months after he bought the Nembutal.

“I would never die if it was possible. I actually want to be cryogenically frozen in the US,” he said.

But Mr Ward said he had endured enough pain from his past health problems to know that he wanted an alternative to dying in agony if he ever ­became terminally ill.

He described himself as a recluse with a long fascination for other people’s ­stories about illness, pain, dying and health. He said he was not depressed though he had suffered years of malaise as a result of chronic illness that eased when he was diagnosed and treated for Coeliac disease.

While at his home, he said police also found a bag of marijuana he had left lying in his hallway. When they asked him if he had any more, he said he showed them to his oven where he kept a stash to use on scrambled eggs.

“I only used a very small amount. I find it helps to relieve anxiety,” he said.

Dr Nitschke is appealing his suspension and does not resile from his position that “every elderly Australian” should have a contingency like Mr Ward’s.

“In the absence of euthanasia legislation, it is sensible for elderly people to put in place their own ‘safety net’,” he said.