Judith Curren

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Judith A. Curren was the 35th assisted suicide patient of the controversial Dr. Jack Kevorkian. The 42-year-old Pembroke, MA. resident died August 15, 1996, leaving behind her two daughters, 10 and 8 at the time, and her husband, a psychiatrist, who, after her death, was terminated from his job and owed more than $300,000 in debt. Curren was said to have chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, and fibromyalgia, a muscle disorder. Three weeks prior to her death, on July 26th, Curren phoned Pembroke police reporting that her husband had dragged her out of bed and destroyed the telephone she was using. The man was arrested and, after an interview, he claimed Judith was deranged and he had only dismantled the phone by means of preventing her from calling Kevorkian to assist her in suicide. Police also received another domestic disturbance call from Curren regarding her husband abusing her in 1993. A registered nurse who hadn't worked in about a decade, Judith Curren was obese, at 5'1" and weighing 260 pounds, and was bedridden for weeks at a time. She claimed feeling tired and weak since she was 21. Her husband claimed she seldom left the house without taking medications, and he would take care of her while she stayed in bed. A South Weymouth, MA. doctor specializing in infectious diseases recommended placing Curren in a nursing home, but she refused. Because none of Curren's disorders or diseases were life-threatening, Curren's death has been controversial, and is believed to have taken place in the Concorde Inn motel in Waterford Township, Michigan. The Currens were reported to have registered at the motel in August, as were two other Kevorkian clients who committed suicide using his drug-injecting machine - Louise Siebens of Texas, and Rebecca Badger of California. Curren had originally intended to meet with Kevorkian to end her life on June 4, 1996, however, she overslept and missed the flight, eventually blaming her husband for not waking her up.