– My wife and I would like to have a couple of deadly pills, So that we can one calm morning take them out, look each other in the eye and say “Farewell my beloved. Thanks for everything. Sleep well.” This was the introduction to a feature in the Danish newspaper Politiken on 22 September last year Signed Mariann and Ebbe Preisler. As a “beautiful vision”, Ebbe Preisler later described it. But the couple did not get the ending to their lives that they wanted. This was the headline in Politiken on 22 September last year Facsimile: Politiken Just over a year had passed since the article was printed. I was watching the news program Deadline on Dansk TV with half an eye when Ebbe appeared. I barely remembered him. But there is an explanation why I haven’t told about him before. It is human nature to dislike murderers. Yes, maybe even hate. . Taking someone’s life usually triggers bottomless grief in those left behind. Sudden death is always painful and difficult. And if we imagine a murderer, wouldn’t we then easily describe the person as dressed in dark clothes? Preferably with a Finnish cap or mask in front of the face. Creepy and dangerous. Perhaps because that is how Hollywood directors often portray them on the screen. But can murderers also have black wool jackets and gray hair neatly swept to the side? And I asked myself the question. Can you actually have compassion for a murderer? – Is it today that you want to die? Let’s take the story in brief. The Danish craftswoman Mariann Preisler was in her mid-50s when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Mariann Preisler lived in a care center in Frederiksberg. Illustration: Colourbox But Mariann was otherwise quite healthy and fast and lived well for many years. After 2020, however, she quickly got worse and worse. In the end, her husband, Ebbe Preisler, was unable to care for her. She first ended up in a care home and later in a nursing home. Her husband watched his life companion of fifty years fade away more and more. Then the nursing home Dronning Anne-Marie Center in Frederiksberg in Copenhagen will become the scene of one of the most talked about murder cases in Denmark in recent years. The murder of Mariann Preisler. It is the morning of Boxing Day last year. In a room at the nursing home, Ebbe Preisler leans down towards her wife, who is lying in bed crying. – I don’t want any more, she says. – Is today the day you want to die, asks her husband and gets a weak but firm “yes” to answer. There are no witnesses to this conversation. This is based on Ebbe Preisler’s own explanation. He goes home, finds some strong prescription drugs he has obtained and returns to his wife that evening. With her asleep in bed, he mixes the medicine in water and injects it into her body via a probe. Ebbe Preisler had obtained strong drugs. Illustration: Colourbox He kisses his wife on the forehead and slips gently out of the room, so she won’t wake up. Got an e-mail on the phone. Then he goes home and mixes a corresponding dose for himself. He cleans the small terraced house in Frederiksberg, washes and throws away rubbish. At half past three in the morning, he writes an e-mail to friends and family and explains what has happened, before taking the potentially fatal dose of drugs himself. Coincidentally, the couple’s daughter is on a city trip in Copenhagen this Boxing Day night and receives the email on her phone. The story unfolds in Frederiksberg, a municipality in the middle of Copenhagen. Photo: Colourbox / She understands that she may soon be an orphan, and jumps on her bike to go to the nursing home. There she finds her mother sleeping with a very low pulse. But she manages to say goodbye while her mother is still alive. Then she goes straight on to her father, who lives next door, and finds him also fast asleep. She lies down next to him. The couple’s children have told, among other things in a documentary on DR, that they wanted to respect their parents’ wish to die together. But the night watchman at the care home has called 112 and soon the paramedics are inside the terraced house giving Ebbe an antidote. The ambulance staff revived Ebbe Preisler Photo: Colourbox / ThinkFoto.dk Although he has written on a note by the bed that he does not want to be revived. Claims he was merciful. A few days later, he sits in a detention hearing in the Copenhagen district court. He is charged with the murder of his wife. He is detained for two weeks, but is released hours before Mariann’s funeral. Ebbe is still waiting to see if he will be charged and when a possible trial will come up. He admits the facts. But believes that the murder was committed out of mercy. That Mariann would die. He has also explained that she was not the type to think that she was a nuisance. Ebbe Preisler with her family during Mariann’s funeral in January this year. Photo: DR She just didn’t want to live. Of course, there is no law that prohibits someone from taking their own life. But if you are so sick and weak that you are unable to commit suicide yourself, then the person who commits the murder or arranges for it can be punished with three years’ imprisonment in Denmark. But Ebbe Preisler is currently charged with the far more serious, planned – i.e. intentional murder, which can mean life imprisonment. Debate in Denmark I must admit with shame that this story for my part was drowned in the fact that a certain queen passed away at the same time as Ebbe was in custody. But this autumn he has made his mark in several media reports in Denmark. Ebbe Preisler was in custody for two weeks, but made it to his wife’s funeral. Photo: Colourbox / Stig Alenäs And the debate about euthanasia is again on the agenda with our neighbours. Before the new year, a committee must put forward a proposal for how the last phase of life can be made more dignified, as stated in the assignment. Although 72 percent of Danes in a survey in DR last year said “yes” to active euthanasia and only 10 percent said “no”, the road to lifting the ban may seem long. The ethical council in Denmark, which consists of doctors, theologians, researchers and lay people, stated, at the latest last year, that they were against – or 15 out of 17 members were against … The main argument is that doctors’ task is to help, heal, treat and relieve the patients. Don’t kill them. Mariann Preisler’s grave in Copenhagen Photo: DR Ebbe Preisler has weakened health herself, but fights on. To avoid being labeled a murderer. To give more people the opportunity to choose what they feel is a worthy end to life. Because if an 82-year-old in a knitted jacket, with kind eyes behind thin glasses, is convicted of murder, there will probably be many Danes who will feel compassion for a murderer. That’s why we talk about suicide. Talking about suicide is an ethical dilemma for the media. In most cases, suicide has complex causes. More than half of the victims have mental disorders. At the same time, there are also those who want to take their own lives for other reasons. As, for example, in the story we present here. news is careful in its mention of method and mode. At the same time, the Be careful poster was changed in 2023 and the new point about suicide signals continued sobriety but also more openness. Ebbe Preisler has been an active debater in Denmark. He has spoken about his suicide attempt on a number of occasions. Do you need to talk to someone? Contact your GP or, for example, Mental health on helpline: 116 123. If the situation is urgent, you should always call 113. Published 26/10/2024, at 16.50
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If Ebbe Preisler is convicted of murder, many Danes may feel sympathy for a murderer – news Urix – Foreign affairs and documentaries
