Woman who died in Sarco pod had strangulation marks.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Miriam Kuepper and Elena Salvoni reported for the Daily Mail on October 28 that strangulation marks were found on the 64-year-old American woman who died in the Sarco death pod on September 23, 2024.

On September 24 I published an article stating that the Swiss police had made arrests related to the Sarco death pod and on September 29 I published an article explaining why the Sarco death method constitutes torture.

Kuepper and Salvoni reported that:

The first person to use the Sarco suicide pod in a Swiss woodland was allegedly found inside with strangulation marks on her neck.

The 64-year-old American woman died inside the capsule set up near a cabin in Merishausen, Switzerland, on September 23 after pushing a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber, causing fatal hypoxia.

Dr Florian Willet, the president of Swiss Sarco operator The Last Resort, was among several people arrested at the scene.

Kuepper and Salvoni explain that Willett remains in jail.

He still today remains in custody - nearly five weeks after the US woman's death. Willet was the only person present when the mother-of-two died.

Investigators are now probing the woman's death, with chief prosecutor Peter Sticher raising the suspicion of 'intentional homicide' after suggesting in court that the 64-year-old may have been strangled, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reports.

The woman had suffered serious neck injuries, according to a forensic doctor, who spoke to the prosecutor just hours after her death.

A spokesperson for The Last Resort stated:

The woman had reportedly been diagnosed with skull base osteomyelitis.

The disease could manifest as an infection of the bone marrow, which could have been responsible for the marks on her neck resembling strangulation marks, according to a person close to The Last Resort who spoke to Swiss outlet NZZ.

Eleni Salvoni reported in the Daily Mail on October 29 that:  

The Last Resort and Exit International - the organisations behind Sarco - have insisted that its first user voluntarily entered the pod and pushed a button to fill the chamber with nitrogen, triggering her own death.

The Sarco death pod was invented by Philip Nitschke, who had lost his medical license in Australia. The 64-year-old American woman who died in the Sarco pod that was organized by The Last Resort Swiss assisted suicide group that is led by Florian Willett, a former spokesperson for the euthanasia group Dignitas and Fiona Stewart, the wife of Philip Nitschke.