Because Florian Willet, an assisted suicide activist, took his own life. He accompanied a woman to die in the sarco capsule and was accused of having strangled her

He took his own life by throwing himself from the third floor of his house in Zurich. Florian Willet, 47 years old, German scientist and co-president of the Swiss organization The Last Resort, It was one of the best known faces of the movement for the right to die in a dignified way, and He had been fighting for years for the legalization of assisted suicide through innovative devices. Among these, the capsule sarco: a nitrogen machine designed to offer a “rapid and peaceful” farewell to those who choose to end their life. Yet, just that car dragged him into a judicial vortex from which, according to those close to him, he never managed to go out.

The case that marked the life of Florian Willet dates back to September 2023. In an isolated hut in the woods near Merishausen, in the Canton of Sciaffusa, A 64 -year -old American woman, suffering from a serious autoimmune disease, died inside the capsule Sappar. The death had been announced as the first case of use of the device in Switzerland. But when the police arrived on the spot, the situation immediately took an unexpected turn.

The capsule was seized, the body brought to the Institute of Legal Medicine for the autopsy. On the woman’s throat, according to the public prosecutor, the public prosecutor would have been found to a possible strangulation. Florian Willet, who was the only person present at the death of the woman, was arrested with the very serious accusation of voluntary murder. The magistrate spoke of “strong suspicions” and questioned the functioning of the device, assuming that it had been Willet who caused death manually.

Willet remained in prison for 70 days. In December 2024 it was released, but according to what was reported by those close to him, it was no longer the same. This is confirmed by Dr. Philip Nitschke, the Australian inventor of the Capsula Sarco and founder of Exit International. «When Florian was suddenly and unexpectedly released by the precautionary custody in early December 2024, he was a changed man. His warm smile and his safety had disappeared. In their place there was a man who seemed deeply traumatized by the experience of imprisonment and by the unjust accusation of strangulation»Wrote Nitschke. “He was hospitalized twice in psychiatric hospital after release,” he added, explaining that Willet had developed “an acute polymorphic psychotic disorder caused by the stress of preventive detention and associated processes”.

After months of deep crisis, the activist has chosen to take his own life. According to reports from Exit International, His death took place with the help of an organization specialized in assisted suicide. The flight from the third floor caused him “serious damage”, which then determined his death in the following month.

The first prosecutor of the Canton Sciaffusa confirmed that, with the death of the main suspect, the criminal proceeding against him was interrupted. But The overall investigation into the case of the sapco capsule remains openand other people involved continue to be under examination due to instigation and aiding and abetting suicide.

The sarco capsule is a 3D printed device, designed to induce death for hypoxia through the inhalation of pure nitrogen. In a few minutes, whoever enters loses knowledge and dies without apparent suffering. But Although assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since 1942, the machine has unleashed strong controversy. The critical point is its accessibility: It can be activated by anyonewithout direct medical assistance. Federal councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider had publicly denounced that the Sopco capsule did not fully comply with the security requirements provided for by Swiss law, reopening the debate on the reliability of new technologies for the end of life.