Colorado Family Faces Manslaughter Charges After Nitrogen Gas Assisted Suicide of 91 Year Old Grandmother

Colorado Family Charged With Manslaughter After Helping 91 Year Old Grandmother Die With Nitrogen Gas

A criminal case involving the assisted suicide of a 91 year old woman is testing the boundaries of a Colorado state law that permits terminally ill residents to end their lives under specific legal requirements.

Two people are now facing manslaughter charges. The woman's daughter, Kim Roller, and her son in law, David Norton, are alleged to have helped the elderly woman die after she was found with a bag over her head connected by a tube to a 20 pound green nitrogen gas tank.

In February 2024, officers with the Louisville Police Department discovered Mildred "Milsy" Roller's body in her room at The Lodge at Balfour, an independent living facility. The officers also found a suicide note with the date Feb. 5, 2024, crossed out and replaced with Feb. 18, 2024.

Investigators determined Kim Roller purchased the 20 pound industrial nitrogen canister, and Norton purchased and later helped install the gas flow regulator to the tank. Earlier this year, a grand jury in Boulder returned indictments against the pair.

Prosecutors claim the defendants carried out the assisted suicide to benefit financially, as they stood to inherit $655,540 from the 91 year old's savings account. Her facility was costing $6,980 per month.

This case highlights the inherent dangers of normalizing assisted suicide, particularly when the boundaries between legal medical practice and unlawful conduct become unclear.

That statement came from Kallie Fell, a perinatal nurse and the executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture, who spoke to The Christian Post about the case.

Boulder Manslaughter Indictment Exposes Deadly Cracks In Colorado End Of Life Options Act

Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty said authorities decided to file criminal charges because the requirements of Colorado's End of Life Options Act were not met.

We looked at it really carefully, but ultimately it's guided by the rule of law. Here in Colorado, the takeaway should not be family shying away from using this option. The takeaway should be following the law when they do so.

Dougherty told ABC News' Denver affiliate in a March 25 interview.

An investigation also allegedly revealed that Kim Roller had attended a Final Exit Network workshop weeks before her mother's death, which is where authorities believe she got the idea to use nitrogen to help Mildred Roller end her life.

Fell warned that laws permitting physician assisted suicide place society's most vulnerable populations at increased risk of being steered toward ending their lives, noting that Belgium and Canada have already expanded their euthanasia regimes to include mental health conditions and depression.

The Crusader's Opinion

The world calls this "compassion." Scripture calls it murder. When a family stands to inherit $655,540 and the monthly bill is $6,980, the line between "mercy" and greed evaporates instantly. This is exactly what every Christian bioethicist has warned about for decades. Once you tell a doctor his job is to kill, you unleash hell on the sick, the old, and the disabled. Life belongs to God alone. Belgium now euthanizes the depressed. Canada kills the poor. America is next unless Christians stand up and call this what it is: the devil's workshop dressed in a lab coat.

Take Action

• Donate to www.TheShepherdsShield.org to support Christians defending the sanctity of life globally
• Support the Center for Bioethics and Culture at www.cbc-network.org, which is leading the fight against assisted suicide laws
• Contact your state legislators and demand they reject any expansion of assisted suicide laws in your state
• Call Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty's office at (303) 441-3700 and thank him for prosecuting this case
• Speak with your pastor about hosting a pro life and anti euthanasia teaching series at your church
• Share this article to warn fellow believers about the deadly trajectory of "medical aid in dying" legislation