Crime and Punishment

On October 24, 1993, Robert Latimer’s life as a private individual, a farmer, husband and family man quietly living in a rural home near the small town of Wilkie, Saskatchewan, came to an end. He began a new existence that included two trips through the Saskatchewan judicial system, both winding up at the Supreme Court of Canada. Then he endured further public exposure at hearings of panels of the National Parole Board, where his file is still current. Along the way he provoked a national discourse and became the Canadian poster person for mercy killing, or euthanasia. His name brings up 195,000  hits on Google, a lengthy article on Wikipedia and his professionally maintained website. And now a book has been published about his case.

All because on October  24, 1993, Robert Latimer ended the life of his twelve-year-old daughter, Tracy, a victim since birth of cerebral palsy who suffered chronic, severe and unrelenting pain. Only a few dispute that Latimer acted...