A Conestoga man admitted Friday in Lancaster County Court to assisting his wife’s suicide in January.
Philip M. Benight, 61, pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony count of causing or aiding suicide, defined as an intentional aiding of another’s suicide or suicide attempt.
Manor Township police charged Benight with removing his 72-year-old wife from her care home, then providing her a quantity of prescription pills in a pudding on Jan. 23.
The woman died about a week later.
Lancaster County Judge Howard Knisely accepted the plea and will order sentence after a background check is completed in a couple months.
Benight and his wife were found unconscious in a vehicle at Benight’s Oak Road home. Police tended to the couple by administering Narcan, an overdose antidote, and CPR. Medics arrived and transported the couple to a hospital.
The woman made multiple statements previously about not wanting to live in her current condition.
Manor Township police Detective Tricia Mazur filed the charge which was approved by Assistant District Attorney Christine L. Wilson.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright