A Texas woman was arrested after she apparently assisted her paralyzed ex-husband’s suicide with guidance from a dubious “right to die” organization.
Joseph Cheffo was found dead in his home in Odessa, Texas on Feb. 13. Even though assisted suicide is illegal in the Lone Star State, his ex-wife and primary caretaker, Sarah Regmund, allegedly helped suffocate him with how-to instructions from the Final Exit Network, the Odessa American reported.
Regmund, 46, told Odessa police that she knew Cheffo was planning on killing himself and had no desire to violate his last wishes, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KOSA.
While police searched through the home, they found rolls of blue painter’s tape in the room where Cheffo died. Strands of grey hair that matched his were stuck on the tape, the affidavit said.
Cops also found a typed suicide note, the victim’s passport and a book titled “Final Exit” neatly arranged on a table at the end of his bed.
Regmund told police that she printed the note and placed it on the table in Cheffo’s stead — since he couldn’t move on his own.
The ex-wife also admitted to moving a tank of compressed gas into the room, which was connected to the plastic bag taped over Cheffo’s head, according to a police report obtained by the Odessa American.
That same day, Regmund was arrested and charged in connection with aiding in Cheffo’s suicide, KOSA reported.
Assisted suicide is not legal in Texas or Florida, where the Final Exit Network is based out of, according to the Death with Dignity tracker.
During an interview with police, Regmund explained that she had been in touch with the Final Exit Network, whose founder authored the book found near Cheffo’s bed. She claimed that the nonprofit’s representatives showed Cheffo how to kill himself the same day he died, according to the Odessa American.
It’s not immediately clear, however, if the representatives were present when Cheffo took his own life.
The distraught ex-wife told police that she remained at his bedside and held his hand after he turned the gas on, the outlet reported.
Following Final Exit Network’s advice, Regmund waited a couple of hours before reporting Cheffo’s death to police.
The Post reached out to the Final Exit Network for comment.
A former teacher with “a passion for fitness,” Cheffo’s life was turned upside down in 2023 after taking a prescribed antibacterial drug.
Cheffo developed “Fluoroquinolone toxicity” and suffered “daily from chronic fatigue syndrome and constant pain from ruptured tendons,” according to a 2024 fundraiser organized by Regmund.
In a video shared on Facebook in April, Cheffo explained that his ex-wife had moved in with him to be his full-time caretaker. He said, at the time, he was “getting a little functioning back” but still struggled to “do almost anything.”
“It’s horrible. It’s a nightmare, an absolute nightmare. And it didn’t even have to happen,” Cheffo urged.
He also lamented his condition in the comments, posting that he was a “proponent of assisted dying” and “[wanted] to leave.”
The fundraiser was the family’s last-ditch effort to help him. The money they collected was planning to go toward a $30,000 stem cell therapy regimen with a regenerative medicine company in Los Angeles.
The GoFundMe raked in just $1,365.
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