Controversy over the Sarco pod leads to a tragic aftermath

A man arrested on suspicion of murdering an American woman in Switzerland during a failed assisted suicide attempt has died by suicide in Germany, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant has reported.

Dr. Florian Willet, 47, co-president of the assisted suicide advocacy group The Last Resort, was found dead on May 5 in Cologne. According to Exit International—a leading euthanasia rights organization, Willet ended his life with the assistance of a specialized group in Germany, where assisted suicide is legal.

His death marks a tragic conclusion to a controversial case that drew international scrutiny and renewed debate over the use of futuristic technology like the Sarco pod for end-of-life options.

Sarco pod in the spotlight after first use sparks legal probe

The saga began in September 2024, when a 64-year-old terminally ill American woman used the Sarco pod—an innovative 3D-printed euthanasia device—in a remote forest near Merishausen in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen. The device, designed to provide a peaceful and autonomous death, was making its first known human-use debut.

Dr. Willet was present at the time of the procedure. However, after the woman’s death, Swiss authorities arrested him on suspicion of murder, claiming they had found “strangulation marks” on her neck, an allegation that raised immediate questions about whether the pod had functioned as intended.

“Florian was a changed man,” says the Sarco inventor

Willet was held in pre-trial detention for 70 days without any external contact before being released in early December 2024. The psychological toll of that incarceration appeared to have left deep scars.

“Florian was a changed man,” said Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International and inventor of the Sarco pod, in a statement. “Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who seemed deeply traumatized by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation.”

Nitschke asserted that the prosecution’s claim—that the Sarco had malfunctioned and Willet had manually killed the woman—was unfounded. “This allegation has no foundation,” he stated.

According to Nitschke, Willet’s “psychiatric discharge report of January 2025 stated that he was suffering from ‘an acute polymorphic psychotic disorder (F23.0),’” adding that the wrongful accusations had broken his spirit and triggered serious psychological consequences.

From a fall to a final goodbye

Earlier this year, The Last Resort revealed that Willet had “fallen” from the third floor of his Zurich apartment building and was subsequently hospitalized for surgery and rehabilitation. Though he recovered physically, those close to him say he never mentally bounced back.

Willet was reported missing in recent weeks. Nitschke noted that he had stayed in contact with Willet sporadically, but said it was “very difficult to really get through to him.”

“I suspect that the medical authorities in the prison also saw this and that is why he was released so suddenly,” Nitschke added.

His death by suicide, carried out with the help of a right-to-die organisation in Cologne, closes a painful chapter in the broader debate over euthanasia and its moral, legal, and emotional implications.

A movement shaken, but not silenced

The Sarco pod, which has long stirred controversy for its clinical approach to death and futuristic design, remains a symbol of evolving discussions around bodily autonomy, ethics, and the right to die.

The case has also raised concerns about how legal systems treat advocates of assisted dying and the psychological burden placed on individuals under suspicion, even before guilt is established.

For now, the assisted suicide community is mourning one of its own, while continuing to advocate for the dignity of choice at the end of life.

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