First suicide pod user ‘found with strangulation marks’ as boss still in custody

The president allegedly told the creator: "She's still alive, Philip"

The capsule which was in development for 12 years, known as the Sarco suicide pod, was used for the first time on 23 September 2024.

The assisted death took place in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, with several arrests being made at the time of the event.

The 64-year-old American woman travelled to Switzerland to die in the specially designed capsule which uses a slow injection of nitrogen to make the user fall asleep before dying from suffocation.

However, the president of Sarco’s operator The Last Resort, Dr Florian Willet, is still held in custoday five weeks after the pod was used.

Willet was the only person present when the woman died and described her passing as “peaceful, fast and dignified”.

Australian creator of the capsule and physician, Philip Nitschke, confirmed the woman’s death.

However, it has now been reported that the woman was found with strangulation marks around her neck after she was examined following her death.

The Swiss chief prosecutor of the case, Peter Sticher, is suspecting the death might be overcast with malicious intent.

The Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported that suspicions have been raised relating to the possibility that the woman may have been strangled in a case of ‘intentional homicide’.

The paper said claimed that the pod's air tight closure is tested several times by being opened and closed before the occupant presses the button which triggers the injection of nitrogen.

The forensic doctor present at the scene said in court that the woman had severe injuries to her neck, among other things.

The newspaper also alleged that Dr Willet, who stood beside the woman for the event, was heard to tell the Nitschke over video call: "She's still alive, Philip".

These comments were reported by the paper to have come six and a half minutes after the user had pressed the button to end her life.

Dr Willet is said to have peered into the pod from outside the window after being alerted by an alarm thought to be a heart-rate monitor.

The woman had been suffering from a longstanding disease known as skull base osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone marrow which could not be treated due to an immune dissorder.

She said she had been living in "severe pain" for two years.

The airtight capsule, which is the size of a coffin offers, according to its creators, a ‘quick, peaceful and reliable death’ without the assistance of a doctor or medication.

In September, chief prosecutor Sticher told Swiss newspaper Blick: “We warned them in writing, we said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences.'

In a statement last month, Schaffhausen Police said: “The public prosecutor's office of the canton of Schaffhausen was on Monday, 23. September 2024 at 4:40 p.m. from a law firm that an accompanied suicide with the capsule Sarco had taken place in the afternoon at a forest hut in Merishausen.

“As a result, the Schaffhausen police, including the criminal investigation service and the public prosecutor's office of the canton of Schaffhausen, went to the crime scene.

“In addition, specialists from the Forensic Institute Zurich (FOR) and the Institute of Forensic Medicine Zurich (IRMZ) were called in.

“The suicide capsule Sarco was seized and the deceased person was taken to the IRMZ for autopsy. In addition, several people were put in police custody in the Merishausen area.

“The public prosecutor's office is also examining the violation of other criminal offences.

“Based on official and investigative secrecy, no further information will be provided at this time. The presumption of innocence applies.”

The capsule, called the Sarco, was designed and built in the Netherlands by 77-year-old Australian doctor and physicist Philip Nitschke.

Nitschke is the founder of Exit International, a movement with 30,000 members who are searching for the best methods for a dignified, self-chosen death.

Nitschke believes the woman’s death is an important step for the right to die movement.

The creator himself has tested the capsule several times. The publication reported that in May he lay down in the capsule filled with nitrogen gas for five minutes with an oxygen mask on his face.

The Last Resort was founded in July 2023 in Switzerland specifically for the use of the Sarco.

You can contact Samaritans on 116 123 or text the crisis helpline on 50808 for mental health support.