ELIZABETHTOWN, KY (WAVE) - Was it assisted suicide or cold blooded murder? That's the question Michele Daugherty's friends have after the Noblesville, Indiana woman was found dead in an Elizabethtown, Kentucky hotel room. Now her husband is behind bars charged with murder, but some Indiana friends of the couple are wondering if what happened in Elizabethtown was a mercy killing.
It's a strange case that has police investigators seeing a clear cut crime. But friends of Lonnie and Michele Daugherty see a totally different picture - an illness and a way out.
"If she was as sick as I'm hearing, then I could see her not wanting to live," said Howard Struck, a former boyfriend of Michele's in an interview with an Indianapolis television station.
The couple checked into the Holiday Inn Express off Interstate 65 in Elizabethtown a few days ago. They were supposed to check out on Saturday morning and get back on the road. Because the housekeeping staff at the hotel was eager to get the room ready for the next guest, they knocked on the door. Getting no answer, they let themselves in and made a shocking discovery.
"They discover two bodies laying in the bed and it appears to them, both have been deceased," said Officer Virgil Willoughby, an Elizabethtown Police Department spokesperson.
However, police say that wasn't the case. While both husband and wife had injuries to the neck, 56-year-old Michele was strangled, but 37-year-old Lonnie was still breathing. Police say Lonnie Daugherty's wounds were superficial.
"He's interviewed at the hospital where he admits to assisting his wife in committing suicide," Willoughby said.
Friends at the apartment complex where the couple lived say Michele told them she had cancer and only weeks to live.
"I know that man and I know he could not of hurt her in any way shape or form unless she had asked him to do something," said Dorothy Castle, a friend of the couple.
"There's no defense, as far as I'm concerned that's going to say, ' Hey, it's OK to go out and kill your wife or husband for that matter," said Willoughby.
Castle says when she spoke to the couple over the phone Friday, they were joking around and everything seemed fine.
Elizabethtown Police have charged Lonnie Daugherty with murder and cruelty to animals. They say he also killed the couple's cat. The case is still under investigation.
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Michele Daugherty (Source: Family Photo)
Officer Virgil Willoughby
Holiday Inn Express in Elizabethtown
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