Dr. Death's assisted suicide papers donated to U-M

A collection of papers and other material from Dr. Jack Kevorkian, including video and audio recordings of his consultations with assisted suicide patients, have been acquired by the University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library.

The collection, donated by Kevorkian's niece Ava Janus, includes eight linear feet of papers and other materials dating from 1911 to 2014, the university announced Tuesday.

The so-called medicide files, which have been digitized and are now officially open to the public, consist of medical histories, photographs, and video and audio recordings of consultations with patients relating to many of the cases. Kevorkian called his assisted suicide, medicide.

"Many of the medicide patients and their families — who remain very close to this day — are still advocates of their family member's choice to die, so anonymity was not an issue," said Olga Virakhovskaya, Bentley's lead archivist who processed the materials. "We felt very strongly that by not providing access to this collection and to the medicide files, we would be choosing to hide a very important story."

The video consultations contain conversations between Kevorkian — a pathologist who was dubbed Dr. Death in the news media — and his patients in their respective homes or in hotel rooms. In many cases, family members are also present in the recordings, where they discuss the history of their illnesses, their current quality of life and the reasons why they decided to end their lives, the university said in a news release.

Related: Suicide machine, Part 1: Kevorkian rushes to fulfill his clients' desire to die

Perhaps the most intriguing parts of the collection, according to Virakhovskaya, are the lesser known materials relating to Kevorkian's personal interests and pursuits, and historical documents and photographs from the Kevorkian family.

"He was a brilliant student who graduated high school early. He spoke several languages and he was very artistically gifted," she said. "Much of his 'dark' artwork that focuses on the subject of death can be found in these archives, along with recordings of his musical compositions."

Considered a radical even in his early days as a student at the U-M Medical School and later as a resident after he graduated in 1952, he proposed giving prisoners condemned to death the option to undergo euthanasia in order to subject their bodies to medical experimentation and allow harvesting of their healthy organs, the university said in a news release.

Kevorkian was convicted in 1999 of second-degree murder and served eight years of prison time.

He admitted being present at about 130 suicides, and his hectoring defiance of established laws and protocols forced re-examination of personal freedoms in medical treatments and end-of-life decisions.

Since his first acknowledged assisted suicide in 1990, authorities had tried to rein in Kevorkian as the toll of his clients soared. He was charged four times with murder only to have three juries acquit him and one case collapse in mistrial.

That streak of courtroom triumphs ended with the 1998 death of Thomas Youk, 52, of Waterford, who had Lou Gehrig's disease.

Kevorkian's post-prison career included a 2008 congressional bid and a cable television biopic starring Al Pacino.

Kevorkian died at the age of 83 in June 2011, four years after being released from prison in exchange for agreeing to end his medicide practice.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj