Who Was Florian Willet? German Euthanasia Activist Once Accused Of Murder In Suicide Pod Death Takes His Own Life

Florian Willet, a German right-to-die activist and legal scholar, has died by assisted suicide, just months after his arrest in connection with the controversial death of a woman who became the first person to use a "suicide pod." The news was confirmed by the inventor of the pod, known as the Sarco capsule, which uses nitrogen gas to induce a peaceful death.

Willet, 47, was arrested last year after the lifeless body of a 64-year-old woman was discovered inside the pod in a forest near Merishausen, Switzerland. He was the only person present at the time of the woman’s death. Authorities detained Willet along with two lawyers and a photojournalist from the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, who had documented the woman’s arrival and the setup of the device.

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Homicide Suspicion And Legal Proceedings

Swiss prosecutors initially charged Willet with “inciting and abetting suicide” and expressed a “strong suspicion of intentional homicide,” alleging that the pod may not have worked as intended and that Willet could have strangled the woman. There was no conclusive evidence to support this theory, and he was released from pre-trial detention in early December 2024 after spending 70 days in custody.

The Sarco pod, developed to facilitate pain-free euthanasia, had previously drawn legal and ethical scrutiny. Authorities in the Schaffhausen canton claimed they had explicitly warned Sarco's developers not to operate the device in the region. “We warned them in writing,” said Prosecutor Peter Sticher. “We said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences.”

Tragic End After Release

Following Willet’s release, he largely disappeared from public view. His death by assisted suicide brings an abrupt and tragic end to the legal proceedings against him, which will now be discontinued, according to the Schaffhausen prosecutor's office. Investigations into the other individuals involved remain ongoing.

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Born in Heidelberg, Germany, in August 1977, Florian Willet came from a family of architects but pursued a different path, studying law and economics. He completed postgraduate studies at institutions across Europe, including Witten/Herdecke, Dresden, Ghent, and Bielefeld.