New Trial for Kenneth Minor

In 2011, Kenneth Minor was convicted of second-degree murderfor helping motivational speaker Jeffrey Locker kill himself.  In an attempt to stage his own death as arobbery so his family would be able to collect $18 million in life insurancepolicies, Locker had Minor hold a knife as Locker thrust his chest into theblade.

An appeals court has now overturned Minor’s conviction andordered another trial.  The court ruledthe trial judge had erred when defining the assisted suicide defense to thejury, saying the judge’s instructions “made it logically impossible for thejury to consider the assisted suicide defense, effectively mandating a guiltyverdict.”

See Russ Buettner,New Trial Ordered for Man Who Helped aLong Island Motivational Speaker Kill Himself, The New York Times, Oct. 3,2013.