Ray Gosling: Murderer or mercy killer?

British police arrested former BBC journalist Ray Gosling on suspicion of murder Wednesday after he confessed, on the air, to killing a terminally ill lover years ago. Gosling, 70, said the man was dying from AIDS and in "terrible, terrible pain," so he smothered him with a pillow to end his suffering. Does Gosling deserve sympathy -- or prison time? (Watch Ray Gosling's television confession)

Ray Gosling is no murderer: Let's hope the police who question Ray Gosling look beyond the raw facts, says Paul Taylor in Britain's Manchester Evening News. Gosling, who has yet to be formally charged with a crime, says his lover made him promise to step in when the pain was unbearable. "Some things are beyond the law," and sometimes "an act of murder can really be an act of love."

"Opinion: Paul Taylor"

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Murderers belong in prison, even if mercy was the motive: Nothing Ray Gosling said on the air excused what he did, says religion blogger Bishop Cranmer. Gosling suggests that the doctor knew what he was up to when he asked for a moment alone with the patient. But "either 'mercy killing' is legal or it isn't." And since, in fact, it isn't, Gosling should be punished for murder.

"Ray Gosling must be arrested for murder"

Police won't be able to prove anything: Ray Gosling isn't cooperating with police, says Jonathan Brown in Britain's The Independent, so it will be extremely difficult for them to prove anything. They don't even know the identity of the man Gosling says he killed. The only certainty is that Gosling's confession will reignite the debate over the ethics of euthanasia.

"Ray Gosling: The confessions of a mercy killer"