Exclusive: Firm That Assisted US Woman’s Suicide in Sarco Pod Claims Act Was ‘Lawful.’NgocChau

The company that helped an American woman die via its Sarco “suicide capsule” has told the Mirror US it believes the killing was done in a “lawful” manner, despite several arrests that followed.

The capsule developed by The Last Resort Association, which had never been used before, was utilized in the death of a 64-year-old midwestern woman on Sept. 23 near a forest cabin in northern Switzerland. Local authorities said they caught wind of the event via a law firm who reached out, prompting a swift response and several arrests including the company’s Co-President Florian Willet—who was the only witness to the death he described as “peaceful, fast and dignified.”

The Last Resort, responding to the Mirror US, claimed to have conducted a “careful” legal review prior to the assisted suicide, making the use of its suicide capsule legitimate. “A careful legal review and legal opinions support our view that the accompanied suicide with Sarco is lawful,” the company said. That sentiment was echoed days earlier by the company’s Advisory Board Member and lawyer Fiona Stewart, who supported the use of the capsule given Switzerland laws that allow assisted deaths.

The country does indeed permit accompanied suicides, but the individual can’t be killed with “external assistance,” according to a government website. Additionally, those who carry out the accompanied death cannot do so for “any self-serving motive.” The Sarco capsule potentially violated Swiss laws because of its euthanasia mechanism, which injects nitrogen gas into the pod once the individual inside presses a button and quickly suffocates them.

The company may have broken a second restriction, which prohibits administering an assisted suicide for personal gain. An American woman who was meant to be the first person to die via the Sarco but backed out alleged, in a letter left with a second organization that helped her kill herself in July, The Last Resort exploited her situation for publicity and financial gain.

The 55-year-old, identified only as Jessica Campbell, claimed to have cashed in her $40,000 savings to undergo the process but was paraded around and put in uncomfortable interviews to make the company look good, according to The Post. She singles out company executives Willet and Stewart as villains who pressured her to cover their expenses.

“If I had known that the deeply heartless people who held my fate in their hands were mainly driven by their own media presence and marketing, I would never have subjected myself to this ordeal,” Campbell wrote.

Whether The Last Resort violated these boundaries for assisted suicide is still under investigation by Swiss police who could possibly charge company officials with “incitement and aiding and abetting suicide,” according to a statement issued by prosecutors Sept. 24.

The legal implications of the use of the Sarco are still under review but The Last resort was made fully aware the assisted death would come with consequences, according to Schaffhausen’s public prosecutor Peter Sticher who spoke with Swiss newspaper Blicc.

Sticher claimed he contacted Exit International, another company founded by Sarco suicide capsule creator Phillip Nitschke who is married to Stewart, warning that use of it’s 3D-printed device in the region could result in criminal proceedings and a conviction could send complicit individuals to prison for up to five years.

Prosecutors in other Swiss regions reportedly followed suit, warning that use of its suicide device would be considered unlawful, according to CBS. Swiss law enforcement officials have not disclosed the specific number of arrests made Monday, but the capsule and the 64-year-old’s body was recovered at the scene.

The woman had been suffering from “a very serious illness that involves severe pain” and had longed for death for “at least two years,” according to The Last Resort.