Close friends of an elderly couple who died at a retirement village in Adelaide's eastern suburbs, in a suspected murder-suicide, have told the ABC the husband and wife were devoted to each other as assisted dying laws come back into the spotlight.
Police found the bodies of Dennis and Barbara Willshire, both aged 92, inside their unit at the retirement village in Glynde on Wednesday after they failed to respond to a routine check by nursing staff.
Detectives are investigating the circumstances of their deaths and believe Mr Willshire killed his wife before killing himself.
"At this stage, we can determine that we believe it is a murder-suicide, and at this stage we believe the man has killed potentially his wife and then taken his own life," Superintendent Matt Nairn told reporters on Wednesday.
"The term euthanasia, I don't know if that's appropriate or consistent other than to say it is an investigation."
Neighbours of the couple, who have been close friends for 40 years, told the ABC they would miss their friends dearly.
The ABC understands Mrs Willshire lived in the unit at the retirement village with her husband until she had an operation a few months ago and had to move into the aged care home across the road, separate from her husband.
The friends, who did not wish to be named, said it had been a difficult few months for the couple.
"Barbara's health had been deteriorating over the last three-and-a-half months," they said.
"Dennis gave his all to help her through that time.
"He was very devoted to her, he went every day to visit her and would take her for a walk."
The couple said the couple "gave so much of themselves" to the community and were active and well liked.
"They were a loving, a devoted couple," the friends said.
"It's a love story".
They described Mr Willshire as "a well-spoken Englishman, very likeable and very respected".
Mrs Willshire was a talented artist and Mr Willshire worked in the public service for decades, being awarded the Public Service Medal in 1991 after his retirement from the Department of Administrative Services.
Assisted dying back in the spotlight
While investigations are continuing, the incident has thrown South Australia's voluntary assisted dying laws back in the spotlight.
Despite the state voting to legalise euthanasia in June 2021, the legislation has not yet been enacted.
Attorney General Kyam Maher, who was instrumental in getting the bill through parliament, told ABC Radio Adelaide the government had already brought forward implementation of the laws from the end of March next year to the end of January.
Mr Maher said an implementation team charged with setting up the laws meet weekly "just to see if there's any way to bring it [further] forward".
"I'd like to see it happen as soon as possible, there are people who have been waiting since the first bill was introduced in the South Australian Parliament in the mid 90s," he said.
He said he could not comment on this week's incident, but a committee he chaired on how the laws might work in South Australia had received a written submission from police and the Coroner with examples of elderly people taking their own lives.
"What the police and Coroner talked about were circumstances where people have a terminal illness and are taking matters into their own hands, choosing to end their own lives and of course being found by family members, ambulance officers, police officers," he said.
"The Coroner gave a number of examples, mainly elderly people that have a terminal illness and have done that."
Laws will be 'restrictive'
Mr Maher said South Australia's laws, which are based on laws introduced in Victoria, will be restrictive — adopting elements of laws passed in both Europe and America.
To be eligible for voluntary-assisted dying, patients must be suffering and have a terminal disease that doctors predict will cause death within six months.
He said for neurodegenerative diseases it was the last 12 months.
"The other factor is that at every stage of the way from when you make the request, see your first doctor, see your second doctor, the final request up to when the substance is administered, you have to have the mental capacity to understand the nature of what you're doing," Mr Maher said.
"Anything that a person suffers from that robs them of their mental capacity, their ability to understand the effect of what they're doing, would disqualify someone from being a part of voluntary assisted dying.
"Something like this, fundamentally affects people and goes to human dignity, it's always hard when legislators have laws that draw boundaries, but that is necessary to do what we need to introduce the scheme.
He said medical powers of attorney and advanced care directives cannot be used for voluntary assisted dying.
Elderly vulnerable to depression
Professor of Geriatric Medicine at Monash University Barbara Workman said mental health issues were prevalent in residential care.
"A lot of its due to loneliness and a lot of its due to loss," she said.
"So older people have to face a lot of losses – loneliness, loss of spouse, a loss of their identity through to retirement and loss of their work, sometimes dislocation from their children – so there are many things that can precipitate mental health issues for an older person."
Professor Workman said people living in residential villages can be "even more isolated" than those in residential care.
"Residential care is highly regulated and even though we recognise that staffing is inadequate, there are at least staff there who will see someone every day," she said.
"In a retirement village a person can be out of sight, out of mind and unless they call a GP and ask for assistance then they won't necessarily have anybody keeping an eye on them."
Professor Workman said while the voluntary assisted dying law was legislation to be "proud of", there would be a lot of people who cannot access it.
"It's focused very much on health-related issues and health reasons for wanting to not keep living," she said.
"It's not really focused at all on people whose mental health is an issue so the people who are lonely or isolated, it absolutely does not cover it."
