Euthanasia Enthusiast Kills Himself After Arrest for Aiding and Abetting Woman's Death in Sarco Suicide Pod

A well-known euthanasia activist [pictured here] has died by suicide months after his arrest in connection with the first recorded use of a Sarco suicide pod.


Florian Willet, 47, was arrested last year in Switzerland following the death of a 64-year-old American woman who used the nitrogen-filled device to end her life in a remote cabin. He was accused of aiding and abetting suicide and, initially, strangulation.

He was released from custody in December after officials ruled out intentional homicide. The experience left Willet emotionally distraught, according to those who knew him.

His death by suicide was confirmed last month by Dr. Philip Nitschke, the director of Exit International, the group that developed the Sarco pods. Willet led The Last Resort, a partner organization that advocates for euthanasia rights.


“Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who seemed deeply traumatized by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation,” Nitschke told Dutch outlet Volkskrant.

Graham Morant Red Flag to Oppose Assisted Suicide Legalization

By Richard Egan.
To view pdf, click here.

In a unanimous decision by three judges of the Queensland Court of Appeal handed down in Brisbane on 19 June 2020 in the case of R v Morant [2020] QCA 135, Graham Morant’s appeal against his conviction for aiding the suicide of his wife was rejected on all four grounds of appeal and the sentence of 10 years imprisonment was upheld as fair.

Morant was convicted on two counts under s311 of the Queensland Criminal Code. The first was that he had counselled Ms Morant to kill herself and thereby induced her to do so. The second was that he had aided her in killing herself.