The first person to use the Sarco suicide capsule climbed into the device and “almost immediately pressed the button” to take his own life, its creator said.
The capsule is designed to allow a person inside to press a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber, causing hypoxia and death shortly thereafter.
The capsule was set up in a forest near a cabin in Merishausen, northern Switzerland, and the capsule’s window allowed the 64-year-old American woman to see the trees and sky above her before she died.
“It looked exactly as we expected. I guess he lost consciousness within two minutes and died within five,” Dr Philip Nitschke, the capsule’s inventor, told Dutch media.
“We saw small contractions and sudden movements of the muscles in his arms, but he was probably already unconscious at that time.”
The woman, believed to be a mother of two from the Midwest, had… reportedly He suffered from “a very serious illness that involved intense pain” and had wanted to die for “at least two years.”
After being notified of her death, police were called to the woods, where they discovered the woman’s lifeless body inside the capsule and arrested several people.
Those detained are said to include a director of The Last Resort, the firm behind the Sarco, as well as two lawyers and a newspaper photographer who had been taking pictures of the capsule.
The first use of the Sarco capsule took place in the middle of the forest, according to the creators of the device
Sarco inventor Philip Nitschke at a press conference in Zurich on July 17
Philip Nitschke lies in a ‘suicide capsule’ known as ‘The Sarco’ in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on July 8, 2024
The ‘Sarco’ capsule, which according to its creators allows its occupant to press a button and trigger his own death.
The Schaffhausen cantonal public prosecutor said the creators of Sarco had been warned not to use the device in the region, but that the warning had not been heeded.
“We warned them in writing,” said prosecutor Peter Sticher. “We told them that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences.”
Sticher attended the crime scene with a “large contingent” of police and forensic teams on Monday, revealing that the operation lasted from early afternoon until around midnight.
“We found the capsule with the lifeless person inside,” he said. See“We removed the person from the capsule and took him to the Institute of Forensic Medicine. An autopsy will be performed there today.”
He said the arrests were made so that they “were not conspiring with each other or covering up evidence.”
According to the Dutch newspaper of the Volksrantwho had been following the case, the woman who died in the machine made an oral statement to The Last Resort saying it was her own wish to end her life.
In the four-minute recording, he allegedly said he had wanted to die “for at least two years” since being diagnosed with a “very serious illness.”
The company said she had a compromised immune system and had suffered “severe pain.”
According to the Volksrant newspaper, the woman’s two sons “fully agree” that it was she who decided to die. “They support me 100 percent,” he reportedly said.
Last Resort cast member Fiona Stewart poses next to the Sarco suicide machine in July.
A view of the Sarco suicide machine, a 3D-printed capsule that gives the user maximum control over the moment of their death.
Fiona Stewart, a board member of The Last Resort, said the woman’s children had confirmed this in written statements to the company.
The children are not believed to have been present in Switzerland at the time of their mother’s death on Monday.
Nitschke announced the news of the podcast’s premiere on X, saying, “An idyllic, peaceful death in a Swiss forest where The Last Resort used the Sarco device to help an American woman get the death she wanted.”
He added of the subsequent arrests: “What the Swiss police did not mention was that among those arrested were the director of The Last Resort, two lawyers providing legal assistance to TLR and a Dutch journalist.”
Volkskrant reported that police detained one of its photographers who wanted to take pictures of the use of the Sarco, but gave no further details.
According to Schaffhausen police, the photographer was being held at a police station, but he refused to give any further explanation.
According to Last Resort, Willet said the woman’s death had been “peaceful, quick and dignified” and had taken place “under a canopy of trees, in a private forest lodge in the canton of Schaffhausen, near the Swiss-German border.”
Nitschke said the woman’s dying process went “smoothly” and that “as soon as she lay down on the Sarco, she almost immediately pressed the button.”
“She really wanted to die. She didn’t say anything else,” he said.
He added in a statement that his device “had worked exactly as it had been designed to do,” saying it had provided “a peaceful, unmedicated death at a time of the person’s choosing.”
Police, including forensic teams, arrived at the scene after being notified by a law firm that an assisted suicide had taken place using the device.
The Last Resort, which had anticipated that an investigation would be necessary after the device was released, said it had informed police that it had been used.
Nitschke and Stewart said the company acted at all times on the advice of its lawyers.
The capsules work by replacing air, which is 21 percent oxygen and 79 percent nitrogen, with 100 percent nitrogen.
This renders the occupant unconscious and then stops breathing in a process its creators hoped would take less than ten minutes.
Philip Nitschke, front, stands next to a “suicide pod” known as “The Sarco” in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on July 8, 2024
A camera inside the capsule records his final moments and the images are handed over to a coroner.
Nitschke and his associates designed Sarco, which is manufactured using a 3D printer, to be free and people would simply pay to have funeral homes remove their bodies.
The woman who used the device only paid the cost of the nitrogen: 18 Swiss francs, according to Last Resort.
The company aims to make assisted dying almost entirely free, costing around 16 pounds, compared with fees at most Swiss clinics, which typically charge around 10,000 pounds.
“The Sarco is free to use,” Stewart said. “We don’t want to make money off of it.”
The woman had to pay additional costs, including her cremation, he added.
A view shows the login screen and the pure nitrogen release button on the Sarco suicide machine
View of the O2 detector and pure nitrogen release button on the Sarco suicide machine
The device was used on the same day that Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told the National Council that she considers the use of the Sarco to be illegal in Switzerland.
“The Sarco suicide capsule is illegal on two counts,” Baume-Schneider reportedly said.
“On the one hand, it does not comply with the requirements of the product safety law and therefore should not be put into circulation,” he explained.
‘Moreover, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemical Substances Act.’
Swiss law allows assisted suicide as long as the person takes his or her own life without “outside help” and those helping the person to die are not doing so for “any selfish motive,” according to a government website.
Switzerland is one of the few countries in the world where foreigners can travel to legally end their lives and is home to several organizations dedicated to helping people commit suicide.
Peter and Christine Scott told the Mail this week that they made the decision to end their lives at the same time.
Some lawmakers in Switzerland have argued that the law is unclear and have sought to close what they call loopholes.
Nitschke and Stewart, who are married and have long campaigned for the right to die, have said they want Sarco to become an established and accessible option for euthanasia.
According to The Last Resort, there are around 120 applicants waiting to use the machine to end their lives, and around a quarter of those on the waiting list are said to be British citizens.
Among them are a former RAF engineer and his wife, who revealed to the Mail they had signed up to become the first couple to use a double suicide capsule.
Peter and Christine Scott, who have been married for 46 years, made the decision after former nurse Christine, 80, was recently diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.
Like the single-person pod, The Last Resort said the two-person pod would be built using a 3D printer and could be ready for use in early January.
- UK: For help and support, call the Samaritans free of charge from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
- US: If you or someone you know needs help, the US National Suicide and Crisis Helpline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.