85-year-old former doctor charged with manslaughter for allegedly assisting in a woman's suicide

An 85-year-old former doctor from Arizona is facing manslaughter charges after he allegedly assisted in a woman's suicide in a Hudson Valley motel room in November, according to the New York Times.

Stephen P. Miller, 85, was indicted and arraigned on Friday on charges of first- and second-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter in connection what what appears to be an assisted suicide that took place on November 9, 2023.

All the charges are felonies.

Miller pleaded not guilty on Friday and was being held at the Ulster County Jail. He has since been released on a $1 million bond.

The authorities showed up at the motel on Washington Avenue after a report of an unconscious and unresponsive person, according to the Times Herald-Record. The police said that the woman, who was not identified in the reports, had died by suicide while alone in the motel room.

Investigators soon found evidence that there was likely a second person in the motel room when the incident occurred. It was not immediately clear how the second individual was a factor in the woman's death.

Miller was found not to be related to the dead person.

After a more detailed assessment of the situation in the motel room, investigators consulted with the Ulster County District Attorney's Office to get a warrant for Miller's arrest. The Kingston police noted a person can be charged with second-degree manslaughter when "a person intentionally causes or aids another person to commit suicide."

However, Jeffrey Lichtman, Miller's attorney, does not see it that way, saying, "Providing advice on ending one's life does not necessarily run afoul of the law." He went on to say that his team "believe[s] in [Miller's] innocence."

Lichtman added that the woman who died had been battling severe, chronic pain and felt that she had exhausted her options for dealing with it. He did not mention whether the woman had a terminal illness, according to the Times.

Miller allegedly gave the woman a book and counseling and eventually traveled to New York from Arizona to be a witness to her death. The former doctor has offered the same service on several occasions in the recent past, Lichtman said.

Lichtman admitted that he did not know the specific cause of death, but he went on to say that he believed it was asphyxiation and that the woman had inhaled some sort of gas.

“This was done carefully, compassionately, and with a lot of research and reflection."

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