Elderly Woman Charged With Killing Ailing Mom Says She Was 'Helping' Her

A woman, who has been charged with murder for killing her 92-year-old mother by spiking her soup with a lethal dose of drugs, said she was only "helping" the bedridden victim, the New South Wales Supreme Court, Australia, heard during a trial Tuesday.

Barbara Eckersley, 68, is accused of murdering her mother Mary White, an acclaimed environmental scientist, at an aged-care center in August 2018.

During the trial, Barbara’s husband Richard Eckersley said that he was shocked and confused when he learned that Barbara had spiked White's dinner, the court heard. However, Barbara has denied intending to kill her mom.

White was reportedly suffering from severe dementia and other health conditions, and was living at a granny flat in her daughter’s backyard until she was moved to a care home in 2016 following a severe stroke. After the stroke, White was incontinent, non-verbal and bedridden, reported The Advocate.

White died on Aug. 5, 2018, when Barbara visited her in the care home along with her husband. Richard told the court that days after White’s death, Barbara had told him that she had poisoned her mother’s food with a drug called “green dream,” which was reportedly used to euthanize animals.

“I just couldn't believe it,” he told the court on Wednesday. He also said that he wanted to wait for White’s toxicology analysis but Barbara insisted on reporting the incident to the police.

Barbara admitted to the police that she had put the drugs in her mother’s meal. She reportedly had the drugs left over with her from the time she worked as a wildlife carer two decades ago, reported 7News.

Barbara’s lawyer Kieran Ginges told the court that Barbara was severely depressed at the time of the incident and did not have the capacity to understand the events. Ginges also argued in court that Barbara had added the drugs to her mother’s meal with an intention to put her to sleep and not to kill her.

The defense argued that the presence of drugs was not a significant cause for White’s death as she had several other health conditions, including thrombosis and heart problems. “She could have died at any time,” Ginges told the court.

He also described Barbara as “a loving, caring and compassionate daughter who did what she had out of love.”

In Australia, assisted dying is legal only in the state of Victoria. The legislation gives a terminally ill patient the right to access lethal drugs, said a report by The Guardian.

The state's law has 68 safeguards and is designed for people who are in severe pain. However, the law mandates the assistance of physicians and requires the patient to make three requests to end their life to specially trained healthcare professionals.