Assisted suicide activist kills self months after arrest

Florian Willet, age 47, took his own life in Germany after spending months in custody last year in Switzerland while being investigated for allegations of improper involvement in the death of a U.S. woman. Though Willet died in May, the Swiss pro-suicide organization The Last Resort, of which he was co-president, did not publicly confirm his suicide until this week. 

Willet experienced mental health issues following his arrest, according to a statement from the assisted suicide group Exit International. The group’s founder, Philip Nitschke, tried to blame the stress from Willet’s time in custody for triggering an acute psychosis that led the activist to take his own life. The Last Resort is an affiliate of Exit International. 

Why was Willet in custody? Police in Switzerland last September arrested Willet after he was reportedly the only witness to an American woman’s suicide. The 64-year-old planned to end her life using the Sarco-brand suicide capsule, which replaces oxygen inside the pod with nitrogen. It was the first time the pod had been used. Authorities held him in pre-trial detention for 70 days, while they investigated the incident. They released him in December.

Dig deeper: Read my report about the arrests after the American woman used the pod.