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Las Vegas man allegedly brought assisted suicide drugs into U.S.
Friday, May 22, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Police in Mexico are investigating a possible assisted suicide there involving Jeff Ostfeld, 32, who faces U.S. charges in Texas.
Related Document
Beyond the Sun
- KTVL.com: Police: Las Vegas Man Arrested After Helping Roseburg Woman Commit Suicide in Mexico (5-20-2009)
- Brownsville Herald: Autopsy: Woman's death caused by tranquilizer overdose (5-20-2009)
- KMTR.com: Roseburg woman found dead in Mexican town (5-20-2009)
Last week Jeff Ostfeld told his mother he’d return home to Las Vegas in four days. The 32-year-old was going on a quick trip, the first he’d ever taken by himself, and he didn’t say where.
On Monday, when he was arrested at a bridge that connects the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas with Mexico, Ostfeld explained to authorities that he was smuggling animal tranquilizers from Mexico into the United States to help people commit suicide, according to court records.
Police south of the border, meanwhile, allege Ostfeld provided that kind of assistance in Mexico. They had asked their U.S. counterparts to stop Ostfeld because a 32-year-old woman from the United States died in a hotel room he was seen leaving, according to the Associated Press.
Jennifer Malone was found next to an empty bottle of pentobarbital, the drug Ostfeld had on him when was arrested. Mexican officials say she overdosed on the tranquilizer, according to the McAllen Monitor, a south Texas newspaper. Investigators also reportedly found books about depression in the hotel room, an empty bottle of anti-anxiety medicine and Malone’s credit cards, cut up and discarded in a garbage can. Police were called to the hotel after employees reportedly saw Ostfeld leave the room with Malone’s purse. He then left the hotel without paying his bill, they complained.
When a bellboy discovered Malone’s body, Mexican officials contacted customs agents who stopped Ostfeld as he tried to walk back into the United States. He was carrying a drug used by vets to euthanize animals and by physicians in places where assisted suicide is legal.
U.S. investigators said Ostfeld told them he had flown from Las Vegas to McAllen, Texas, on May 15 with the intention of buying the drugs in Mexico, and he came prepared with special containers to conceal them.
Although Carol Ostfeld was aware her son had been arrested, she thought he had been released. She was trying to get in touch with him Wednesday when she learned from a Sun reporter that he was facing federal drug trafficking charges.
She said her son, who will be 33 next month, suffers from severe anxiety and depression — conditions for which he has received medication in the past.
“He gets influenced a lot. He just freezes up and can’t really concentrate. I am sure he is depressed and in way over his head,” she said. “He’s a good kid. He’s quiet. He doesn’t have any money and I am really worried.”
Ostfeld has never had his own credit cards, has done mostly manual labor when he could find work and has always lived with her, she said. According to Clark County assessor records online, Carol Ostfeld has owned her 1,200-square-foot Spring Valley town house since 1996.
Her son had never gone on a trip alone, but she did not push for answers when he wouldn’t reveal where he was headed, she said. He told her he had to check on something and would be back soon.
Ostfeld spent a lot of time online chatting to people and was secretive about what he was doing on the computer, his mother said.
In February a person posting under the name “Jeff Ostfeld” in a forum to discuss articles posted on a news Web site wrote: “I’m unemployed, have personal disability issues (for many years, in fact) and my life has not only not improved over the years, but I don’t expect it to either ... I take Klonopin without a prescription because of debilitating anxiety which I’ve had my entire life. I’m highly dependent on it due to my circumstances, but I’m certainly not addicted to it.”
After he left home, his mother found a ripped-up piece of paper indicating Ostfeld was headed to Texas. She said she surmised he might go to Mexico to get a bargain price on medicine to help him deal with this anxiety and depression.
Ostfeld told U.S. federal agents that the tranquilizers he bought over the counter in Mexico for $20 to $40 a bottle would sell for thousands in the U.S., according to the criminal complaint filed in Texas on Monday — the day his mother expected her son to return home.
She was told he was being held in “medical isolation” in a federal prison. He is set to appear in federal court in Texas today.
Mexican police, meanwhile, have been quoted saying they are investigating the woman’s death as a homicide and have at least enough evidence to charge Ostfeld with assisting a suicide, a crime punishable in Mexico by several years behind bars.
Malone has been described as a resident of Roseburg, Ore., in multiple news accounts, though colleagues at a real estate agency in Roseburg where one Jennifer Malone worked said she had left the state about a year ago to stay with her parents in Florida. Her boyfriend told the McAllen Monitor that Malone had struggled with chronic depression, tried to commit suicide on prior occasions, and had recently been caught researching euthanasia on the Internet.
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This man is a monster he paid her airfare, her hotel and for the drugs used to kill her. He must be stopped before someone else dies. Jennifer was a beautiful girl who had a bad reaction to the birth control (NuvaRing) she ended up with hormonal imbalances and thyroid problems that induced her depression. She was not a terminally ill person; this man enticed her to Mexico so he could kill her. He knew what he was doing and he will do it again if he gets out. People say it was assisted suicide but I say it was his excuse for murder. The family can't even afford to bring Jenny's body home and a trust fund has been set up in her name. Jenny deserved more than this creep she had family and friends who loved her dearly and she will be missed by all.
Jennifer Malone
Umpqua Bank 1790 Garden Valley Blvd.
Roseburg Oregon, 97479
972286801
Please help us bring Jenny home and give her the burial she deserves!
melinda -- exactly how do you know all this?
And it's clear he was stopped. Before you solicit money -- which may not even be permitted here -- you should keep up.
I am a friend of the family. I have known jenny about 7 years. i am very upset over this thing yes she was suicidal, but she would not have done this alone. just because he is in jail now doesn't mean he will be charged with murder, and what he did was murder. i don't mean to solicit money as you say we just want to ease her moms burden and help. it was not my intent to scam money off of people, we just want to help her mom as we know her financial situation.
melinda -- thanx for the qualification.
My condolences for the tragedy.
Sorry you lost a friend Melinda, it does sound like assisted suicide, not murder.
Mexico never returns their citizens that commit murder in the US so no way should this guy be turned over to the Federalis. Charge him in the US.
I am one of Jens close relatives. From my view of it, this man is absolutely disgusting. Anyone in their right mind would see that she was physically healthy, just was going through a mental illness and with the right help, could have been fixed. He shouldnt have agreed to help her kill herself. I believe that he is just a sick man who enjoys watching people die, and it sounds to me like Jen wasnt his first victim. He knew what he was doing. Jenny was not herself, the same woman that we all knew, she was extremely vulnerable and Jeff Ostfeld took advantage of her. If he wanted 'to help her' like he so innocently says, he would have taken her to a hospital! Duh.
And for all those who have an opinion about this, unless you know the *whole* story and have good sources and actually KNOW what you are talking about, dont even go there... Im tired of hearing the negative opinions of people who dont even know the correct (and/or complete) story.
Ps. Thank you everyone for your support to our family during this difficult time. And yes we are doing a fundraiser to help with funeral costs. since Jen had no life insurance, it is all out of pocket. Mail checks or drop off checks or cash at any Umpqua Bank facility
please include her account#972286801
Thank you so so much
"Gone but never forgotten...We love and miss you Jenny with all our hearts."
Sorry for loss, but society takes people with mental health problems as being trival. Deal with depression and mental illness.
Yes one can look perfectly healthy physically, but are dying inside emotionally. Where are the concerned people when one had an emotional crisis???
Shame on those who judge others without walking in their shoes!