As an investigation into the death of the first person by way of Philip Nitschke’s “Sarco” suicide pod has advanced, disturbing details have come to light — such as how the woman was found to have serious neck injuries resembling strangulation marks. Now, more information is raising even more questions.
In September, an American woman was named as the first to have used the suicide pod with help from the Last Resort, a Swiss affiliate of Exit International, which created the Sarco device. Florian Willet, co-president of the Last Resort, was present when the woman died, and has been detained by Swiss police. Criminal charges are possible.
Volkskrant published information about what the woman’s last moments were like, which were also captured on video, apparently in an effort to promote and normalize assisted suicide. After the woman pressed the button to activate Sarco, the compartment was flooded with nitrogen gas, causing nitrogen hypoxia. Essentially, the machine causes death by asphyxiation. Willet claimed the woman was unconscious within 30 seconds, but within less than three minutes, the motion-activated camera turned on.
The window to the outside, which was fogged up, suddenly had a dark spot on it; Willet said it was likely due to the woman’s body cramping, and her knees hitting the window. At just over six minutes in, an alarm began to sound. Willet, who was on the phone with Nitschke throughout the whole process, seemed concerned.
“She’s still alive, Philip,” he said on the phone.
Ultimately, it appeared to take 30 minutes for the woman to die. “She had her eyes closed,” Willet said. “And she was breathing very deeply. Then her breathing slowed down. And then it stopped.”
Nitschke insisted this all went according to plan, despite how long it took for the woman to die, and the continual movement of her body. “It looked exactly as we expected it to look. My guess is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes,” he said, adding, “We saw sudden, small contractions and movements of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then.”
Death row inmate Kenneth Smith died in January through nitrogen hypoxia, a method which Nitschke said is peaceful. Howeer, Jeff Hood, Smith’s spiritual advisor, was present for Smith’s death, and described it as “torture.”
