COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah, May 13, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A Utah doctor has been charged with manslaughter in the 2014 death of her husband for allegedly giving him a lethal cocktail of alcohol and drugs.
Detectives with Cottonwood Heights Police have been investigating the death of Rustin James Orr, 54, for the last 14 months. He died on September 11, 2014.
On Friday, second degree felony charges of manslaughter were filed in 3rd District Court against Orr’s wife, 63-year-old Dr. Ina Amber.
Investigators said Amber had authored 17 prescriptions of Librium for her husband in the year prior to his death.
In charging documents, police say Amber told investigators she provided her husband with a mix of vodka and Gatorade everyday and she estimate he drank a fifth of vodka on a daily basis.
It was determined by the medical examiner that Orr died from a mix of alcohol and librium which investigators say his wife administered to him. Court documents state Amber had been his only doctor for the last 15 years of his life.
Charging documents also state that Orr confided to a friend just before his death that he knew his wife was over-medicating him. The friend told investigators Orr was in bad condition at the time and unable to get out of bed.
Amber has not been arrested, but has been notified to appear in court June 17 to face the charges against her. Stephen Owens, Amber’s attorney, said she disputes those charges.
Amber graduated with her doctorate degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, in 1979. She moved to Utah in 1984 where she worked at the University of Utah Medical Center. She is currently listed as an infectious disease specialist with offices in Millcreek.
