Sarco Suicide Pod Boss in Custody Over Death of First Person to Use Grim Contraption — As U.S. Woman, 64, Was 'Found With Strangulation Marks'
The death of a woman who entered the suicide pod is being investigated.
Oct. 29 2024, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
The Sarco suicide pod is now surrounded by even more controversy after the first person to use it was found with strangulation marks around her neck.
Dr Florian Willet, the co-president of Swiss Sarco operator The Last Resort, remains in custody after he, along with a few others, were arrested following the victim's gruesome death, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Sarco suicide pod co-president, Dr Florian Willet, remains in custody after the death of an American woman (not pictured).
The woman, a 64-year-old American, died inside the capsule set up near a cabin in Switzerland on September 23 after she hit a button that injected nitrogen gas into the sealed device, causing fatal hypoxia. Willet was the only person physically present for the woman's death.
However, the death is now being investigated as "intentional homicide" after chief prosecutor Peter Sticher suggested the mother-of-two may have been strangled.
According to a forensic doctor, the victim suffered serious neck injuries, although there has been no official autopsy report released.
Willet has been in custody for five weeks following his arrest.
The victim, who has not been named, had reportedly been diagnosed with skull base osteomyelitis when she made the decision to enter the suicide pod.
Due to an immune disorder, the woman was unable to receive effective treatment for the disease, The Last Resort disclosed.
According to a person close to The Last Resort who spoke to Swiss outlet NZZ, the disease could manifest as an infection of the bone marrow, which may have explained the marks on the woman's neck resembling strangulation marks.
The woman was found with what appeared to be strangulation marks on her neck.
Following the arrests, Exit International, the group behind the Sarco, responded in a statement but did not specify further. However, they shared they were “pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed... to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person’s choosing.”
The statement made clear that Willet was a witness at the scene, and he described her death as “peaceful, fast and dignified".
The man behind the pod, Dr Philip Nitschke, also responded after watching the moment via video feed: "'It looked exactly as we expected it to look. My guess is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes."
He added: "We saw sudden, small contractions and movements of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then."
Willet remains in custody five weeks after his arrest.
Willet, along with two lawyers and a photographer who had been taking pictures of the pod, were among those arrested following the woman's death. However, only Willet remains in custody.
According to prosecutor Sticher, the company and the pod's creators had been warned not to use the device.
He revealed in September: "We warned them in writing. We said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences."
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The Sarco suicide pod is designed to allow a person inside to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed device. The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die by suffocation in just a few minutes.
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