Jack Kevorkian: Activist or Criminal? Quiz

Answer: Pontiac

Born Murad Kevorkian to Armenian parents, Jack graduated from Pontiac Central High School. He gained his medical degree in pathology from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1952.

Answer: Thanatron

The "Thanatron" was an automated machine that delivered chemicals similar to those used for lethal injection death penalties. He took its name from the Greek god of death, Thanatos. Later, when Jack was prohibited from using these controlled substances, he resorted to a carbon monoxide mask, a setup he called the "Mercitron".

Answer: Geoffrey Fieger

Fieger has been the representation in many highly publicized trials. Some of the more famous names involved in some on his cases were talk show hosts Jenny Jones and Jerry Springer. Fieger spring-boarded off his representation of Kevorkian to run for Governor of Michigan in 1998, unsuccessfully.

Answer: Kevorkian's Volkswagen van

Kevorkian had originally planned on having the suicide take place at the home of his friend and fellow activist, Janet Good. But she backed out at the last minute. So Jack took his "Thanatron" and brought Adkins to a Pontiac park in his 1968 Volkswagen van and accomplished the deed there in the van.
Janet Good would later become one of Kevorkian's patients, suffering from terminal cancer at the time.

Answer: Deep Sea Fishing

Jack has put out a jazz album, featuring his playing of the flute and the organ. He is also an accomplished oil painter, having six of his prints released in print form. His work in movie directing and producing was not as successful, as his attempt to get a self-produced and directed movie based on Handel's "Messiah" ended poorly.

Answer: Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson made it his mission to gain a successful victory over Kevorkian, so much so that the public was beginning to see the drain it was taking on public tax funds. This was one of the main factors that led to Thompson's demise as prosecuting attorney.

Answer: Blindfold and Cigarette

One of the trials where Jack defended himself was due to charges filed based on an outdated common law. He wore an 18th Century powdered wig, stocks, and a ball-and-chain to demonstrate how these mounting trials were looking more like a witch hunt. He also staged multiple hunger strikes during the times he was held on bond waiting for a trial to begin.

Answer: 60 Minutes

"60 Minutes" showed interviews of Jack Kevorkian daring the court system to stop him. This prompted the judge during the reading of the sentencing to say "Well, sir, consider yourself stopped." Jack fired his longtime lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, just before the trial began and represented himself.

His lack of knowledge of the law created many difficulties for Jack during the trial, so much so that he was unable to call any witnesses for his defense. This resulted in the jury taking minimal time to deliberate his guilt, but merely going back and forth on whether the charge of first- or second-degree murder should be the final verdict.

Answer: Eight years, two and half months

Jack Kevorkian was originally sentenced to 10 to 25 years. His early appeals were unsuccessful, as the Supreme Court refused to hear his case. Early parole requests were refused, but on June 1, 2007, almost seventeen years to the day of his first assisted suicide, he was paroled for good behavior, on the condition he not "help anyone else die".

Answer: 130

From June of 1990 to September of 1998, Jack was involved in 130 suicides. The suicide of Tom Youk is up for debate, as Tom did not make the final motion to cause the event to transpire. This is what led to the murder charge, since Jack did all the events himself, essentially killing Youk himself. Youk provided written consent, but that was not enough in the law's eyes, only Kevorkian's.