(WHDH) — A registered nurse is facing a felony murder charge after authorities say she injected a lethal dose of drugs into a friend who wanted to die following a breakup.
Kristie Jane Koepplin, 58, of Peoria, Arizona, pleaded not guilty this week in the death of 58-year-old Matthew Peter Sokalski, who had asked for help killing himself, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
An investigation was launched after Sokalski’s body was found by staffers at a hotel in Mission Viejo, California, in 2018.
Koepplin was arrested on Oct. 15 for allegedly assisting in Sokalski’s death.
“California’s right to die law strictly governs the conditions under which terminally ill adult patients with the capacity to make medical decisions can be prescribed an aid-in-dying medication,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a news release. “That was not the case here. It is beyond disturbing that someone who is trained as a nurse to aid the sick and the dying would twist their duty to willingly end the life of another human being.”
Koepplin posted $1 million bail on Monday and was released from custody.
She is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Jan. 7.
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