Husband tells of assisted suicide ordeal An anguished husband is waiting to see whether he will be prosecuted after admitting he helped his bedridden wife kill herself. Margaret Bateman, 62, suffered from an agonising mystery condition which baffled medical specialists and remained undiagnosed. She spent the final three years of her life in terrible pain, bedridden and cared for by husband Michael. Mr Bateman is now calling for a change in the law to allow people the right to die, saying he did what was morally correct.