Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
The first person to use the controversial suicide pod was allegedly ‘found with strangulation marks’, according to reports.
Created by Dr. Philip Nitschke, the Sarco ‘suicide pod’ was made to provide assisted suicide treatments for patients.
It was used for the first time last month on an unidentified 64-year-old woman from the US, who entered the machine and subsequently died.
However, the pod had yet to be approved for use, leading to the arrest of several people over the woman’s death.
A statement from Schaffhausen Police read: “The public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Schaffhausen has opened criminal proceedings against several persons for incitement, aiding and abetting suicide (Article 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code) resulting in several persons being placed in police custody.
“The public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Schaffhausen was informed on Monday, September 23, 2024 at 4:40 p.m. by a law firm that an assisted suicide with the Sarco capsule had taken place in the afternoon at a forest hut in Merishausen.
“As a result, the Schaffhausen police, including the forensic emergency service, and the public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Schaffhausen went to the scene of the crime.”
The controversial suicide pod was used for the first time last month (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
Those looking into the matter are now investigating whether the woman could have been killed, with chief prosecutor Peter Sticher raising the prospect of ‘intentional homicide’, as per a report by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant.
According to local reports, a forensic doctor stated the woman had suffered serious neck injuries, though no autopsy report has been released as of yet.
UNILAD has reached out to The Last Resort for comment.
The suicide pod doesn’t involve anyone else being inside, with the user pressing a button inside that employs nitrogen gas.
Once that button has been pressed, the person inside the pod becomes unconscious in two minutes and dies in around five minutes.
Co-president of The Last Resort Association, Dr. Florian Willet, was said to be the sole witness to the woman’s passing last month.
Florian Willet of The Last Resort (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
The doctor, who also co-developed the pod, stated the individual’s passing was ‘peaceful, fast, and dignified’, according to CBS News.
Willet remains in custody to this day.
Dr. Nitschke previously said the woman travelled to Switzerland to end her life, with the creator claiming she ‘really wanted to die’.
“When she entered the Sarco, she almost immediately pressed the button,” he told de Volkskrant.
“She didn’t say anything. She really wanted to die. My estimate is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes.
“We saw jerky, small twitches of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then. It looked exactly how we expected it to look.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741