He Helped a Woman Die in a 'Suicide Pod' — Now the Controversial Advocate Has Died by Suicide Himself

Months after an American woman’s family sued over her controversial death inside a 3D-printed “suicide pod,” the Swiss euthanasia activist who helped make it possible has taken his own life. 

Florian Willet, the 47-year-old president of Swiss right-to-die organization The Last Resort, died on May 5 in Cologne, Germany with the help of a specialized organization, according to The Times UK, SwissInfo and The New York Post. 

Willet’s death comes months after he was arrested and held in pre-trial detention for 70 days in connection with the controversial suicide of a 64-year-old American woman in Switzerland, according to the outlets. 

The woman, whose name has not been released, died in a remote forest cabin in Merishausen after entering the “Sarco pod” — a sleek-futuristic nitrogen filled capsule that had been promoted by Willet’s organization as a “peaceful” way to die.

The woman’s family later filed a lawsuit against Willet and his organization, questioning the circumstances surrounding her death and the legal and ethical oversight — or lack thereof — in her use of the pod, per the outlets. 

Swiss prosecutors eventually declined to press international homicide charges, but initially accused Willet of assisting in the woman’s suicide without proper authorization and subjected him to months of investigation and public scrutiny, the outlets reported. 

They initially suspected Willet of intentional homicide after discovering marks on the woman’s neck, which led to his arrest, per the outlets. However, the strangulation allegation was later dismissed, and Willet was released from detention in December 2024. 

After his release, the Schaffhausen public prosecutor’s office announced that there was no suspicion of homicide in the case. However, they said that there was a “strong suspicion of inciting and assisting suicide.”

It is illegal to encourage a person to take their own life for “selfish motives,” such as financial gain, in Sweden. Self-publicity could also be considered a selfish motive, lawyers told The Times.

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Philip Nitschke, the Australian activist and founder of Exit International who invented the pod, said in a statement on The Last Resort’s website that Willet was “broken” after his time behind bars: 

“When Florian was released suddenly and unexpectedly from pre-trial detention in early December 2024, he was a changed man. Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence,” Nitschke said. “In its place was a man who was deeply traumatized by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation.”

The statement said that Willet had been suffering from “acute polymorphic psychotic disorder” — according to the National Institute of Health, the disorder is characterized by a mixture of sudden-onset symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized behavior. 

Switzerland is among few countries where foreigners can travel to legally end their lives via assisted suicide, but Swiss officials have not yet approved the Sarco pod for use. 

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.