Australian Woman Who Gave Her Dying Husband a Fatal Drug Dose Cleared of Murder

A court in Australia has cleared a woman of murdering her husband, whom she helped to die: on 5 December 2023, Truswell-Mobbs gave her terminally ill husband a toxic combination of drugs, and he died the following day.

Her husband, a former firefighter from Alexandra Hills, suffered from an aggressive form of motor neurone disease. He was diagnosed only in April 2023, but by December he was already completely paralysed, bedridden and unable to speak — he communicated by blinking, making sounds, or using a letter board when someone lifted his hand for him. He was also in pain and was in despair that he could no longer even use the toilet without help.

Defence lawyer Ruth O'Gorman told the court that on that night the man had begged to die. "There was nothing secret about it. It was done with the full knowledge of Truswell-Mobbs's sons and several carers," she said.

Because his diagnosis was terminal, he likely qualified for voluntary assisted dying, which was legalised in Australia in early 2023. But, according to the lawyer, he was told the assessment of his eligibility would take at least nine days — time he no longer had.

Judge Tom Sullivan found that the woman had taken her husband's life out of compassion and dismissed the murder charge. He sentenced her to two years in prison for assisting a suicide, but since she had already spent 14 months in custody awaiting trial, the sentence was suspended in full from the outset.

Outside the courthouse, the woman was met by relatives and supporters who had followed the case. She told reporters she was relieved the legal ordeal was over: "It's a good feeling. David was wonderful. He will never be forgotten."

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz