Family charged after respecting father’s wish to die

A Danish family is facing charges after choosing not to intervene when they found 82-year-old Ebbe Preisler in a coma following a suicide attempt, respecting his long-standing wish to die.

Last June, Louise Preisler received a call from her brother: “He has done it again.” She rushed to her father’s home and found him unconscious in bed. The family gathered to say goodbye, opting not to call emergency services. For them, honoring his wish was the most loving act.

“We loved him and we miss him. But for us, the most loving thing we could do was to respect his wish,” Louise Preisler told DR.

Now, nine relatives—including Louise, her brother, her husband, and their children—are charged under Denmark’s penal code §253, the “duty to assist,” which criminalizes failing to help someone in obvious mortal danger. The charge carries a penalty of up to two years in prison.

Ebbe Preisler had previously attempted suicide in December 2023 after killing his wife, Marianne, who had Parkinson’s, in what authorities described as a mercy killing. He survived that attempt and was later charged with her murder. The couple had publicly advocated for assisted dying in a Politiken op-ed months earlier.

Louise Preisler said her father was distressed after being revived the first time. When the family found him unconscious last year, they waited until the next morning to call emergency services, by which point he had died. She insists they acted out of love, not neglect.

“We helped him fulfill his wish,” she said.