Maria Korp to die after feeding tube taken away

MELBOURNE - Woman-in-boot victim Maria Korp is likely to die within a fortnight after Victoria's Public Advocate ordered the removal of the feeding tube that has been keeping her alive.

Public Advocate Julian Gardner decided to remove Mrs Korp's feeding tube today as there is no prospect of her condition improving and it is now terminal.

Mrs Korp, 50, has been unconscious and in a vegetative state in The Alfred hospital in Melbourne since she was found in the boot of her car in February.

The decision to remove her feeding tube comes just days before Mrs Korp's husband, Joe, faces a committal hearing on charges of her attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and intentionally causing serious injury.

Korp now faces the prospect of being charged with murder once his wife dies.

He will seek to vary his bail conditions, possibly as early as today, so that he can pay a farewell visit to his wife on her deathbed.

Mr Gardner, who was appointed Mrs Korp's guardian in April, said he had made the decision to end her treatment after consulting her family, an independent medical specialist, and seeking the views of a Catholic ethicist.

He said medical advice was that Mrs Korp would die within two weeks.

"The artificial feeding that has been provided to Mrs Korp through a PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrotomy) tube is no longer sustaining her life, but rather is prolonging her dying", Mr Gardner said.

"The clinical advice is that continuing her treatment is futile and unduly burdensome for her."

Mr Gardner said palliative care would ensure that Mrs Korp remained free of pain and discomfort.

Mrs Korp, a mother of two, was found near Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance on February 13, four days after she was attacked in the garage of the family's Mickleham home, in Melbourne's outer north.

Joe Korp's former lover, Tania Herman, 38, was sentenced to a minimum nine years' jail last month after pleading guilty to the attempted murder.

Korp's lawyer, Peter Ward, said his client was shocked and distressed about the public advocate's decision.

"Joe is extremely distressed and he's just in the process of grieving at this stage," Mr Ward said.

Korp, 48, is due to face Melbourne Magistrates' Court for a committal hearing next Monday.

Korp will seek to vary the conditions of his bail -- which prohibit him from making contact with his wife -- to allow him to visit her in hospital under police supervision.

A spokesman for the Office of Public Prosecutions would not comment on the possibility of the charges against Korp being upgraded to murder.

Joe Korp's brother, Gust (Gust), said the family was outraged at the advocate's decision, which he said meant Mrs Korp would suffer a slow and painful death.

"Why don't they give him (Mr Gardner) a gun, let him go and shoot her?" he told Southern Cross Radio.

Through her lawyer, Mrs Korp's 27-year-old daughter, Laura De Gois, said she was "very upset" that her mother's feeding tube would be removed.

Asked whether Ms De Gois approved of the decision that would effectively end her mother's life, lawyer Jim Robinson said: "It was not her decision".

He asked for the media to respect the privacy of Ms De Gois, and her 11-year-old brother, Damien Korp.

- AAP