Sarco suicide capsule used for first time, 64-year-old American woman uses capsule to die in Swiss forests – police raid and arrest staff

The makers of the Sarco suicide capsule have confirmed that it has been used for the first time. A 64-year-old American woman is believed to be the first person to die in the device “under a canopy of trees” in Switzerland.

Police in northern Switzerland said several people were arrested on Monday and that the public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation on suspicion of incitement and complicity in suicide.

The suicide capsule “Sarco” is designed to allow a person inside to press a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber, its creators say. The person should then fall asleep and die of asphyxiation within minutes.

Prosecutors in the canton of Schaffhausen were informed by a law firm that a euthanasia using the Sarco capsule took place near a forest hut in Merishausen on Monday, police said.

The woman who died in the capsule had reportedly suffered from ‘a very serious illness accompanied by severe pain’ and had wanted to die for ‘at least two years’.

According to the device’s creators, the first use of the Sarco capsule took place in the middle of the forest

The ‘Sarco’ pod, whose creators say the occupant can press a button and cause his own death

The Last Resort, the Swiss company behind the Sarco, said in a statement: “On Monday, September 23 at approximately 4:01 p.m. CEST, a 64-year-old woman from the Midwest of the United States died as a result of using the Sarco device.”

According to police, the organization’s co-chairman, Florian Willet, was the only one present at the death, contrary to what police claim.

According to the Volkskrant, the police arrested a photographer who wanted to take pictures of the use of the Sarco.

Schaffhausen police had indicated that the photographer was being held at a police station, but would not provide further explanation.

According to Last Resort, Willet said the woman’s death had been “peaceful, quick and dignified” and had taken place “under a canopy of trees, in a private forest in the canton of Schaffhausen, close to the Swiss-German border.”

According to the organization, the woman “had been suffering for years from a number of serious problems related to a severely weakened immune system.”

The Sarco’s inventor, Philip Nitschke, said his device had “done exactly what it was designed to do” and provided a “peaceful death without drugs, at the time the person wanted it”.

Police, including forensic teams, arrived at the scene after receiving a report from a law firm that euthanasia was being performed using the device.

They seized the Sarco capsule and arrested a number of people in the area of ​​Merishausen. They were taken into custody by the police.

The Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine (IRMZ) will now perform an autopsy on the deceased.

Fiona Stewart, a member of the Last Resort Advisory Board and attorney, said The Last Resort acted at all times on the advice of its attorneys.

Sarco inventor Philip Nitschke pictured at a press conference in Zurich on July 17

Last Resort member Fiona Stewart poses next to Sarco’s suicide machine in July

The device was used on the same day that Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told the National Council that she considers the use of the Sarco illegal in Switzerland.

“The Sarco suicide capsule is not legal for two reasons,” Baume-Schneider is reported to have said.

“On the one hand, it does not meet the requirements of the Product Safety Act and therefore should not be put into circulation,” she said.

‘The corresponding use of nitrogen, on the other hand, is not compatible with the article on intentional use in the Substances Act.’

According to a government website, Swiss law allows for assisted suicide, provided the person commits suicide without “external help” and that those helping the person die do not do so for “any selfish motive.”

Switzerland is one of the few countries in the world where foreigners can travel to legally end their lives. There are also a number of organizations based in Switzerland that are dedicated to helping people commit suicide.

Some Swiss lawmakers find the law unclear and are trying to close so-called legal loopholes.

• For help and support you can call the Samaritans free from a UK phone line, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.