Sarco Pod Advocate Takes Own Life After Arrest Over Woman’s Death In Capsule He Promoted

A doctor who spent months in custody over the death of a woman who used the controversial Sacro suicide pod in Switzerland last year has taken his own life.

Dr. Florian Willet was the only person present when a 64-year-old American woman used the capsule for the first time in the northern canton of Schaffhausen in September of last year.

He was one of four people arrested by police in Switzerland after officers were informed an assisted suicide had taken place within the 3D-printed Sarco pod in Merishausen.

Willet spent 10 weeks in police custody before he was released last year

Image credits: Exit International

At the time, Willet, 47, described the woman’s death as “peaceful, fast and dignified.”

Dr. Philip Nitschke, who created the pod, announced Willet’s death on Exit International yesterday and said he had died by assisted suicide in Germany on May 5.

According to The Last Resort – the company behind the capsule – Willet spent 10 weeks in custody before being released on December 2.

Local police alleged there had been strangulation marks on the woman’s neck and prosecutors believed it to be a case of “intentional homicide.”

Image credits: Sarco

The Last Resort maintains that evidence proves that Willet did not murder the woman, citing video footage recorded from inside the pod and the measurement of oxygen levels.

The Sarco capsule is an assisted suicide device that enables a person to end their life by releasing pure nitrogen gas into a sealed chamber.

The process is meant to be swift, typically causing unconsciousness within seconds and death within minutes, without the use of drugs or the involvement of medical personnel.

A button inside the capsule is activated by the user themselves, initiating the process.

Image credits: Exit International

Nitschke said that after being released from detention, Willet was a “changed man” who was “deeply traumatized by the experience of incarceration.”

He returned to Zurich to receive psychiatric support and spent Christmas receiving treatment at the Zurich Psychiatric Clinic.

After discharging himself, he traveled to the Netherlands, but his psychiatric state appeared worse, Nitschke said, and in January, he fell from his third-floor apartment in Zurich.

The Last Resort co-president Dr Florian Willet & advisory board member Dr Fiona Stewart prepare to answer media questions about the new organisation and planned use of the Sarco assisted suicide device at The Last Resort press conference in Zurich pic.twitter.com/oRxuWlzybm

— Philip Nitschke (@philipnitschke) July 16, 2024

Willet spent the following three months in rehab in Switzerland after undergoing surgery and psychiatric care.

According to Nitschke, Willet’s discharge paperwork stated he was suffering from “an acute polymorphic psychotic disorder (F23.0), which is currently subsiding under antipsychotic therapy, and which has developed following the stress of the pre-trial detention and the associated processes.”

Willet advocated for a person to be able to choose when to die

Image credits: Xx17965797N

“Florian was passionate about a person’s right to choose when to die,” Nitschke wrote in his eulogy.

“Florian wanted to make a difference. And he wanted to help a desperately ill woman to get the peaceful death that she was seeking,” Nitschke said.

“He thought only of her. His own (legal) well-being came a distant second. Little did we all know the heavy professional and personal price that Florian would pay for his compassion.”

Willet’s “spirit was broken” after his detention, and his “belief in the rule of law in Switzerland was in tatters,” Nitschke noted.

Image credits: Exit International

“Everyone needs a Florian by their side in their final moments,” he added.

“Florian has now paid the ultimate price – his life – for his compassion. Florian will live forever in our hearts.”

Last year, Swiss media reported that Nitschke and the company behind Sacro had been warned about using the pod in the region.

Peter Sticher, a state prosecutor in Schaffhausen, informed Exit International’s legal team that anyone operating the suicide capsule in the region could face criminal charges.

A conviction, he noted, could carry a prison sentence of up to five years.

Two lawyers and a photographer were also detained in connection with the assisted suicide last September.

Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland if those helping the person are doing so without selfish motives and the person consents freely.

If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm or suicidal ideation, help is available. International Hotlines provide resources.