Bitter Medicine: Two Doctors, Two Deaths, And A Small Town's Search For Justice

Written by Carlton Smith

Narrated by Patrick Lawlor

Two Deaths

Port Angeles, Washington, is a small town of pretty houses and smiling people, surrounded by acres of pristine wilderness. Everyone thought it was the perfect place to live . . . until two local doctors made headlines.

Two Doctors

On a chilly January night, Dr. Eugene Turner hastened the death of a three-day-old baby boy who had been pronounced brain-dead. Six weeks later, ER physician Dr. Bruce Rowan hacked his wife to death with an axe, then tried to kill himself-claiming he snapped after witnessing Dr. Turner's euthanasia.


A Small Town Rocked by A Shocking Fatality

What really happened? What drove Dr. Bruce Rowan-a man who was entrusted to heal the sick-to so savagely take the life of his own wife? Acquitted by reason of insanity, Dr. Rowan was committed to a mental institution. And thought the trial is over, some fascinating ethical and legal questions have been raised by its outcome.

Now, bestselling true crime writer Carlton Smith reveals the never-before-told facts and the stunning truth behind two doctors, two deaths, a surprising trial, and the picturesque town standing in the shadow of a ghastly killing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781977385253

Carlton Smith

Carlton Smith (1947–2011) was a prizewinning crime reporter and the author of dozens of books. Born in Riverside, California, Smith graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, with a degree in history. He began his journalism career at the Los Angeles Times and arrived at the Seattle Times in 1983, where he and Tomas Guillen covered the Green River Killer case for more than a decade. They were named Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative reporting in 1988 and published the New York Times bestseller The Search for the Green River Killer (1991) ten years before investigators arrested Gary Ridgway for the murders. Smith went on to write twenty-five true crime books, including Killing Season (1994), Cold-Blooded (2004), and Dying for Love (2011).

Reviews for Bitter Medicine

[Sylvia Hodin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a very unusual situation for doctors to be in.