First person to die in Sarco Suicide Pod may have been strangled: report

The first documented case of a woman using Sarco’s ‘suicide capsule’ in Switzerland has taken a new twist. An autopsy reportedly found strangulation marks on her neck, prompting speculation about her death. This has led to questions about a possible malfunction or interference of the equipment, according to the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant.

The 64-year-old American woman died on September 23 in a remote forest area near a hut in Merishausen, a sparsely populated region of Switzerland close to the German border. BBC reported.

The Sarco pod, designed by Dr. Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, is intended to give terminally ill patients the opportunity to end their lives. Operated by Swiss aid group The Last Resort, the pod requires the user to press an internal button, which releases nitrogen gas, causing them to fall asleep and then die peacefully within minutes due to lack of oxygen.

Swiss police were notified and later found the woman’s body in the capsule. Dr. Florian Willet, chairman of The Last Resort, was reportedly the only person present at the time of her death and remains in custody.

Swiss chief prosecutor Peter Sticher, who led the investigation, has suggested the woman’s death may not have been as intended, pointing to the possibility of “intentional murder”, according to de Volkskrant. The report highlights that strangulation could be a factor, raising questions about the circumstances of her death.

The report notes that the pod was opened and closed several times before the procedure began to verify the seal.

A forensic expert testified in court that the woman had serious injuries to her neck, which further fueled suspicion.

The incident was reportedly recorded by two surveillance cameras: one in the pod, pointed at the control button, and another mounted on a nearby tree. These cameras were motion activated and not set to record continuously. De Volkskrant, which reviewed the images, noted that the internal camera was activated twice in quick succession about two minutes after the woman pressed the button, although it was not clear from the camera angle what happened.

According to the report, Dr. Willet later informed police that about two and a half minutes after the procedure, the woman’s body appeared to convulse sharply – a reaction he described as typical of deaths involving nitrogen. Six and a half minutes after the woman started the process, the pod’s iPad would sound a loud alarm, prompting Dr. Willet, who was talking to Dr. Philip Nitschke, to say, “She’s alive, Philip.” The alarm stopped after a while, and about 30 minutes after pressing the button, Dr. Willet reportedly confirmed, “She really does look dead.”

Swiss authorities have yet to publicly confirm these findings and the prosecutor’s office has refrained from making an official statement on the ongoing investigation.

Swiss law prohibits assisted suicide if there is external assistance or if those helping have a ‘self-interested motive’.