(Thumbnail image: BBC News)

Gosling: "He was a young chap.  He'd been my lover and he got AIDS.  He was in terrible, terrible pain.  I said to the doctor, 'Leave me, just for a bit,' and he went away. I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead.  Doctor came back, and I said, 'He's gone.' Nothing more was ever said." (BBC News)

Longtime BBC presenter Ray Gosling claims to have ended the suffering of his AIDS-stricken lover. Gosling's on-air admission has prompted a murder investigation and stirred public debate.  Could Gosling's confession put him in prison? Or is it a ploy to revive a long career in broadcasting?

We're looking at perspectives from BBC News, ITV, the NHS Blog Doctor, and Professor Sapient.

After the documentary with the confession aired, Gosling was arrested on suspicion of murder. Despite 30 hours of questioning, the 70-year-old broadcaster adamantly refused to name the lover or reveal other details.  One criminal lawyer told BBC News the lack of evidence is likely to stall the case.

"When one balances the non-identification of the body and indeed the lack of evidence as to actually proof as to how a person died despite the admission, it's going to be very difficult to prove, and I would anticipate this case is going nowhere."

If convicted of murder, Gosling would receive life in prison.  For assisted suicide, he could face up to 14 years.  Whatever the charges, anti-assisted-suicide activist Jon Wiles tells ITV that Gosling deserves punishment.

"My reaction was that what he'd done was clearly illegal, and I think that's the message that we need to send out to people, that actually, it's not legal for somebody to kill another person."

On NHS Blog Doctor, one writer says he believes Gosling should be prosecuted --  if the confession proves true -- but he expresses skepticism.

"Maybe he is well-motivated, but I find it hard to see his recent public confession as anything other than exhibitionism and self-seeking personal aggrandisement. ... Suffocation with a pillow usually leaves obvious pathological signs in the face that would be identified by... hospital doctors and nurses."

But blogger "Professor Sapient" says Gosling has a long history of activism, and suggests the broadcaster is simply fighting for a cause.

"Perhaps his age has caused him to recognise the need for a change in the law in time to prevent him, like so many others face daily, the ignominy and cruelty of dying slowly and painfully in stages of despair?"

So what do you think Gosling's motives for the confession were?

Writer: Tracy Pfeiffer

Producer: Newsy Staff