A Boulder County grand jury has indicted two relatives on manslaughter-by-aiding-suicide charges after Mildred “Milsy” Roller, a 91-year-old resident of an independent-living campus in Louisville, died in February 2024. Prosecutors say she was found with a clear bag over her head that was attached to a nitrogen tank and regulator, and they argue the help she received did not follow Colorado’s medical aid-in-dying process. The indictment names her daughter, 70-year-old Kim S. Roller, and her son-in-law, 68-year-old David Norton, as the defendants.
Paper Trail of Purchases and Texts
Investigators say they followed a trail of receipts and digital breadcrumbs that tie the pair to the nitrogen setup used in the death. According to prosecutors, Kim Roller bought a 20-pound industrial nitrogen bottle at an Airgas store in Dacono, while Norton bought and installed a gas-flow regulator.
Prosecutors say videos and text messages pulled from Kim Roller’s phone show Mildred explaining her decision. The indictment also points to family texts about inheritances and to equipment linked to Final Exit Network resources. It further notes the resident’s monthly bill at the Balfour campus and about $655,540 in savings, details that come from Boulder County.
Autopsy Findings and Prosecutors’ Theory
An autopsy reviewed by the grand jury concluded that Mildred Roller did not have a terminal illness, a fact prosecutors say places the case outside Colorado’s End-of-Life Options Act. The coroner’s opinion listed the cause of death as asphyxia caused by a bag and the displacement of oxygen by nitrogen gas, according to The Denver Post. Those medical findings, combined with the grand jury’s review, led prosecutors to seek indictments in January.
DA’s Take and Final Exit Network’s Shift
“Our office understands and supports the right of Coloradans to avail themselves of medical aid in dying,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said, while adding that the law’s “requirements and safeguards” were not followed here, according to the DA’s press release.
As part of the broader investigation, prosecutors say they reached an agreement with the Final Exit Network. The group will stop including nitrogen demonstrations, step-by-step instructions, and equipment lists at public workshops, and will add clearer warnings about Colorado law. The DA’s office has framed those changes as an effort to spell out what is, and is not, legally permitted in the state, as described in the press release from the district attorney’s office…