Man who was arrested after being only person at first 'suicide pod' death takes his own life

Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.

A man who was arrested after being the only person present during the assisted suicide of a 'seriously ill' woman has taken his own life at the age of 47.

Dr Florian Willet, co-president of assisted suicide organisation The Last Resort, was present when the Sarco suicide capsule was used for the first time in Switzerland in September 2024.

An American woman, 64, was said to have used assisted suicide to take her own life in a forest near Merishausen in the Schaffhausen canton.

Willet was arrested at the scene under suspicions he might have killed the woman because the capsule had not worked as it should have.

After being placed in pre-trial detention for 70 days, however, he was released in early December 2024, with prosecutors saying they no longer suspected intentional homicide, but still had 'a strong suspicion of the crime of incitement and aiding and abetting suicide'.

"On 23 September 2024, Florian was the only person present for death of a seriously ill American woman in the 3D-printed Sarco in a forest in Schaffhausen canton in Switzerland," The Last Resort said in a statement.

Florian Willet took his own life at the age of 47 (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)

"From 23 September 2024 until 2 December 2024, Florian was held in pre-trial detention for 70 days by the Schaffhausen prosecutor.

"The prosecution alleged that the Sarco had not worked, and that Florian had strangled the woman instead.

"This allegation has no foundation."

It added: "In the early days of 2025, Florian ‘fell’ from the third floor of his Zurich apartment building.

"He would spend the following three months undergoing surgery and in rehab in Switzerland.

"During this time he was cared for by a full psychiatric team.

Florian Willet, co-president of assisted suicide organisation The Last Resort, has died (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)

"His psychiatric discharge report of January 2025 stated that 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’. Florian’s spirit was broken."

The Last Resort director Dr Philip Nitschke, who invented the Sarco pod, told Volkskrant that Willet died last month 'with the help of a specialised organisation'.

"When Florian was released suddenly and unexpectedly from pre-trial detention in early December 2024, he was a changed man," he said.

"Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who seemed deeply traumatised by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.

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