Abortion Practitioner Malachy DeHenre’s Trial on Murder Charge Continues

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 30, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Abortion Practitioner Malachy DeHenre’s Trial on Murder Charge Continues Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 30,
2008

Laurel, MS (LifeNews.com) — Former Mississippi and Alabama abortion practitioner Malachy DeHenre’s trial continues on charges that he murdered his wife. DeHenre, who has lost his medical license in three states over botched abortions, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed his wife, Dr. Mysha Rose DeHenre, 10 years ago.

Six years ago a jury failed to convict DeHenre after a mistrial. A gunshot to the head while his wife was in the couple’s home resulted in her death.

DeHenre was re-indicted on the charges when new evidence came to light, arrested last December and ordered held without bond.

Local authorities have filed new indictments in the case saying they have more evidence to prove DeHenre’s guilt.

According to an AP report, attorneys completed the testimony phase of the trial on Wednesday and the Jones County Circuit Court jury will begin deliberations.

The prosecution rested Tuesday and defense attorneys called their first witnesses.

During the testimony, AP reported that Dr. Michael Baden, a forensics pathologist, said he reviewed the autopsy and evidence in the case and confirmed Mysha DeHenre’s death was not accidental nor a suicide.

“The discharge of that bullet was by another person, not by the deceased,” he said.

DeHenre has also been charged with raping a 21-year-old patient in March 1992.

In December, DeHenre attorney David Ratcliff said the former abortion practitioner is not a flight risk but a judge opposed bond because both charges carry life sentences and because he is not a citizen of the United States. He is from Nigeria but has applied for citizenship.

DeHenre’s New Woman Medical Center abortion facility in Jackson closed in 2005 and he was required, in December 2005, to pay substantial damages to a woman who was injured in a failed abortion in 2003.

Circuit Judge Winston Kidd awarded Latosha Travis $500,000 in damages after the abortion center failed to respond to her lawsuit. DeHenre and the abortion business were defendants in the suit.

In March 2005, the Mississippi state medical board suspended his medical license over botched abortions.

The suspension came after he testified that he did not like performing some 35,000 abortions but did so because he needed the work.

During his testimony, DeHenre stated, "I found work in Jackson, and it happened to be an abortion clinic in which an obstetrician was needed. I needed money to pay expenses and education for my children. It was supposed to be temporary, but it turned out to be longer. I was in a position I didn’t want to be in, but I needed work."

“I ask your forgiveness,” he said at the time. "I don’t want to be an outcast. I want to be among the medical community."

Medical boards in Alabama and New York have also suspended his medical licenses in those states.

In one Alabama case, a woman died 18 hours after having an abortion. The women involved in three other cases had to have hysterectomies to stop massive hemorrhaging from uterine perforations, including Travis.

Travis, who was 20 years old at the time and living in Jackson, paid DeHenre $680 for the abortion, the lawsuit said. She had at least one child already and though she planned to have more children in the future, she was devastated to have the hysterectomy because of the failed abortion.

In the case involving a death, DeHenre admitted he should have met the patient at the hospital or relayed medical information to the doctor who treated her.