A Florida woman who told investigators she had discussed assisted suicide with her ailing mother has been arrested on a murder charge in the death of the ailing 97-year-old woman.
Martha Jo Blake, 66, is facing a first-degree murder in the death of Patricia Blake after the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that the elder Blake’s injuries were inconsistent with a natural death.
Autopsy findings indicate the elder Blake, whose body was found on Dec. 26 in the family's Greenacres-area home, was suffocated or strangled, according to her daughter's arrest report. The doctor performing the autopsy found that the 97-year-old had a fresh neck fracture, an internal hemorrhage on both sides of her neck and an indication that something had been placed over her face, the arrest report said.
The elder Blake suffered persistent illnesses, including Parkinson's disease and a thyroid disorder.
Investigators say that the younger Blake told them that her mother wanted to die because of her health issues and that she previously had discussed assisted suicide with her mother’s primary care physician in Maine, where the practice is legal.
