Going back in history, the government has always used the Internal Revenue Service to shut down underground businesses that are illegal or immoral. If the law does not support the government’s case, or if the facts and evidence are not in its favor on other charges, the government often has “tax evasion” in its back pocket. Al Capone is the prime example.
This week’s Al Capone is a 92-year-old lady from Southern California named Sharlotte Hydorn. She was convicted and sentenced to 5 years supervised probation for failing to file and pay taxes on the income she earned from suicide kits she sold from her home. She was also ordered to work out a way to pay off her IRS tax debt. As you probably guessed, there is no federal law addressing assisted suicide.
My question is “where was her family?” I know her husband is deceased — it was his death that sparked Hydorn’s interest in benevolent killings. But she needed somebody by her side to tell her things like:
- Maybe you should be a little more careful about who you’re selling these kits to; like maybe find out their age and circumstances first.
- Maybe you should be paying taxes on this income
- Maybe when grandpa whispered “home, home” on his deathbed he wasn’t asking to die in the comfort of his home. Maybe he was trying to communicate to you that he was now going “home” to his maker.
I realize that last point is pure speculation. But hey, if it were true then Hydorn certainly never would have started selling suicide kits in the first place.