Dutch man distributed suicide powder to 1600 people

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The trial for the man (Alex S) in the Netherlands, who allegedly distributed 1600 packages of a suicide powder world-wide, took place on July 3 - 4, 2023.

The DutchNews reported on July 4 that the public prosecutor called for a four year prison sentence for selling a lethal suicide powder online. Alex S was prosecuted for 10 known suicide deaths.

Alex S was arrested on February 21, 2021. At the time he was charged in connection with the deaths of 4 people.

The DutchNews reported on July 3 that the 30 year old man from Eindhoven sold the suicide powder online. According to the news report:

Alex S allegedly sold the “suicide powder” to dozens of customers...

S is a member of Coöperatie Laatste Wil (CLW), an organisation which campaigns for the right to die by circumventing the strict rules that apply to euthanasia in the Netherlands.

He is also accused of breaking the medicines act and money laundering. Another nine members of the organisation will also be prosecuted, the public prosecution department said.

The public prosecution department claims S. had been selling the poisonous substance, which is not illegal in itself, between November 2018 and June 2021 and may have had hundreds of clients.

Experts explained that death from "Substance X" starves the body of oxygen, takes up to 40 hours, and is a painful death.

The DutchNews reported on July 4 that:

Alex S allegedly sold the “suicide powder” to hundreds of customers over three years. The prosecution say 10 people died after taking the powder.

S, who is a member of Coöperatie Laatste Wil (CLW) which campaigns for the right to die by circumventing strict euthanasia rules, initially bought the powder because he was contemplating suicide himself because of medical problems, he told a court in Den Bosch.

When he discovered it could be easily obtained from the internet he was contacted by other members of the CLW who wanted it, he claimed.

He subsequently made up 1,600 doses of “substance X” comprising four times the lethal amount, put the doses in a box and posted them out for €45 per batch. S did not check who his clients were, the public prosecutor said.

... S is also accused of money laundering in connection with the powder sales and breaking the medicines act.

The lawyer for Alex S said that his client would be acquitted because the prosecutor did not prove that people who died by suicide received the powder from his client.

Ximena Knol

Ximena, who was 19 years-old, (pictured on left) died on February 2018 after ingesting the suicide powder.

The Netherland Coöperatie Laatste Wil (CLW) assisted suicide lobby group has been promoting the suicide powder. The Public Prosecution Service arrested the CLW chairman, Jos van Wijk, in September 2021 for his alleged involvement in promoting and distributing the suicide powder.

On May 9, 2023,  Kenneth Law (57) was charged with two counts of aiding and abetting the suicide deaths of two people in Peel Region, through online sales of a substance that is lethal in high concentrations. Law sold the substance online for the purposes of aiding suicide. Law allegedly distributed 1200 packages of the suicide powder and is possibly linked to deaths in many countries.