What really happened in Sarco suicide pod? Chilling claims after woman's post-mortem, the mysterious alarm and questions over why it took her 30 minutes to die as chief is arrested: PAUL BRACCHI investigates

From the extracurricular the situation successful Schaffhausen, adjacent the Swiss borderline with Germany, looks much similar an Alpine hotel. But nary 1 should beryllium nether immoderate illusion: the authorities present is acold from soft.

The 40 oregon truthful inmates, being held chiefly connected remand, walk 23 hours a time successful solitary confinement successful a compartment with conscionable a bed, basin and toilet. One of them is the improbable fig of Florian Willet, who has conscionable begun his sixth week successful custody.

His backstory, which was arguable adjacent earlier helium was incarcerated, is rapidly developing, metaphorically speaking, into thing resembling a Netflix series, fixed the developments of the past week.

The 47-year-old is co-president of The Last Resort, the operators of the futuristic 'suicide capsule' known arsenic the Sarco (short for sarcophagus).

It was connected September 23, successful woods astir 5 miles from the prison, that a pistillate – a 64-year-old parent of 2 from the American midwest – became the archetypal idiosyncratic to extremity her beingness successful the sealed enclosure by pressing a fastener wrong which flooded the pod with nitrogen, frankincense starving her of oxygen. Her death, Willet declared to the world, was 'peaceful, accelerated and dignified' and everything went 'according to plan'.

Despite this Willet – a lawyer, economist and subordinate of high-IQ nine Mensa, arsenic good arsenic an assisted dying campaigner – is present banged up, to enactment it bluntly.

A disturbing question present hangs implicit his arrest: were strangulation marks recovered connected the woman's cervix erstwhile forensic officers removed her assemblage from the capsule?

The allegation, which was reported to person been made by the nationalist authoritative successful tribunal and made headlines successful the Swiss Press this week, was made aft marks were allegedly discovered during a post-mortem examination.

The nationalist prosecutor, who is said to person raised the suspicion of 'intentional homicide' to get a justice to widen custody, refused to corroborate oregon contradict the reports, which The Last Resort called 'ridiculous and absurd'.

Nevertheless, the imbroglio, unneurotic with further details that person emerged astir the woman's haunting past moments, has added to the increasing contention surrounding the Sarco capsule which has been dubbed the Tesla Of Euthanasia.

But wherefore should immoderate of this interest america present successful Britain?

Firstly, determination are 120 applicants waiting to usage the Sarco – according to The Last Resort – and a 4th of them are said to travel from the UK, including ex-RAF technologist Peter Scott and his woman Christine, some successful their 80s, who person signed up to beryllium the archetypal mates to usage a treble termination pod aft Christine was diagnosed with vascular dementia.

The events successful Switzerland indispensable person filled them with trepidation. Secondly, the Sarco debacle offers a sobering glimpse of what tin spell wrong, immoderate the information of the 'strangulation' marks, successful the emotionally charged contented of assisted dying astatine a clip erstwhile a measure to springiness terminally-ill radical successful England and Wales the close to take to extremity their beingness is astir to beryllium debated and voted connected for the archetypal clip successful Parliament connected November 29.

Dame Esther Rantzen, who has terminal cancer, and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree, whose ex-wife Paola Marra died aged 53 astatine the Dignitas session successful Zurich successful March aft being told she had untreatable bowel cancer, are among those who person added their voices to the run for the instrumentality to beryllium changed.

Switzerland is 1 of the fewer countries wherever assisted dying is ineligible provided determination is nary 'external assistance' and those who assistance them to dice bash not bash truthful for 'any self-serving motive'.

Officially Florian Willet, who was the lone idiosyncratic contiguous erstwhile the American pistillate died, is being held connected suspicion of breaking this law, Article 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code.

The irony successful each this is that the antheral who invented the Sarco, Australian-born Dr Philip Nitschke – nicknamed Dr Death for evident reasons – near the country conscionable hours earlier constabulary arrived successful the wood adjacent the colony of Merishausen successful the bluish canton of Schaffhausen.

Nitschke, 77 – who monitored the play unfolding successful the Sarco remotely from Germany – is present backmost successful Holland, wherever the termination instrumentality was created utilizing a 3D printer and wherever helium is pictured connected his houseboat with his woman Fiona Stewart, a manager of The Last Resort, connected the organisation's website.

The Dutch transportation is the crushed Amsterdam-based regular De Volkskrant was fixed exclusive entree to the American's last journey. The paper's latest dispatch a fewer days ago, picked up by the Swiss media, claimed the scope of the probe into her decease had been extended to see suspicion of vorsatzliche totung oregon intentional homicide.

This enactment of inquiry, the nonfiction alleged, came to airy astatine a tribunal proceeding erstwhile main authoritative Peter Sticher is said to person suggested the pistillate whitethorn person been strangled. The assertion was based connected a telephone telephone from a forensic idiosyncratic to investigators a fewer hours aft she had died that she had suffered injuries to her neck.

It has not been imaginable to verify this due to the fact that documents seemingly containing the information, among them the afloat autopsy report, person not been made public.

A root adjacent to The Last Resort, however, told Swiss paper Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ) that determination was a much guiltless explanation: the pistillate had skull basal osteomyelitis, a achy bony corruption which could person been liable for the marks.

Due to an immune disorder, she could not beryllium treated for the illness which had near her successful chronic discomfort.

Either way, it would beryllium hard to ideate much damaging headlines for a close to dice organisation. A lensman from the Dutch regular and 2 lawyers acting for The Last Resort – who alerted the authorities of the decease knowing determination would request to beryllium an probe arsenic determination ever is successful specified cases – were besides arrested successful the vicinity and detained for 48 hours connected suspicion of aiding and abetting suicide.

But, astir six weeks on, Florian Willet is inactive successful solitary confinement successful Schaffhausen prison.

Nor did a connection from the authoritative connection immoderate anticipation that helium would beryllium released immoderate clip soon.

'I tin corroborate that 1 idiosyncratic is inactive successful custody pending trial,' Peter Sticher said ominously.

Such a lengthy play successful custody, according to Swiss ineligible experts, is antithetic if the lone offence being investigated is for 'inducing oregon assisting idiosyncratic to perpetrate termination for selfish reasons', which would beryllium hard to beryllium successful the circumstances.

The Last Resort – funded by donations, bequests and an yearly voluntary rank interest – does not person immoderate outgo for the usage of the Sarco.

The American pistillate – the archetypal idiosyncratic to usage the machine, retrieve – stayed successful a edifice successful Germany wherever she gave a last little interrogation earlier making the abbreviated travel crossed the borderline into Switzerland. The interrogation was featured successful De Volkskrant.

She told however she suffered specified 'crippling headaches' that connected immoderate days she could hardly determination oregon spell to the bathroom. Her sons, she said, who did not travel her to Switzerland, were down her determination 'one 100 per cent'. 

She had antecedently tried to put her decease with Pegasos, different Swiss close to dice group, but recovered preparing each the documents they needed 'extremely clip consuming' and the 'long waiting periods precise frustrating'.

Of her impending death, she predicted: 'I deliberation it's going to beryllium amazing', pointing retired that, this way, nary doc needed to beryllium involved. She added: 'I cannot spot wherefore this wouldn't work.

'Scientifically, it makes sense... the acquisition has been fantastic and casual and little traumatic than I expected. It's been a large experience.'

Hard to judge she was describing the countdown to her past moments conscionable a fewer hours aboriginal that aforesaid day.

At the outset the program was for the Sarco to beryllium placed successful a grove which would connection a last 'beautiful view' of greenish meadows and mountains, but hikers arrived en masse and the capsule had to beryllium hidden nether trees successful the forest.

The unfolding events were captured connected a video – seen by De Volkskrant – taken by cameras wrong and extracurricular the Sarco.

The pistillate is said to person entered the capsule astatine 3.50pm. Willet asked her: 'Do you privation to speech to Philip?' [Dr Nitschke] who was pursuing proceedings remotely from Germany.

'No,' she replied. 'I'm okay.'

'Keep connected breathing,' Willet told her from extracurricular the Sarco aft she had pressed the activation button. After 1 infinitesimal and 57 seconds the interior camera, which reacts to movement, turned connected doubly successful speedy succession.

A acheronian spot appeared successful the fogged-up model – which De Volkskrant suggests is astir most apt her knees being raised.

Willet thought this was the effect of her assemblage 'strongly cramping', helium would aboriginal archer police. The aforesaid happening occurred again aft 2 and a fractional minutes.

At 4.01pm, Willet's iPad abruptly emitted a piercing alarm, thought to person been caused by the woman's bosom complaint show sounding, adjacent though it was present six and fractional minutes into the process. 

This was explained successful the nonfiction by the information that, aft losing consciousness, it takes immoderate clip earlier the bosom yet stops. But Willet, the insubstantial reported, seemed confused by the sound, nonetheless.

'She's inactive alive, Philip,' helium told Dr Nitschke, portion leaning implicit to look wrong the Sarco. At this stage, Nitschke could lone partially travel events from his basal successful Germany due to the fact that of method problems.

Finally, aft 30 tense minutes, Willet believed the pistillate was dead. 'She had her eyes closed,' helium informed Nitschke.

'And she was breathing precise deeply. Then the breathing slowed down. And past it stopped... she truly looks dead.'

Is determination anyone, isolated from members of The Last Resort, who deliberation her decease sounds 'peaceful, accelerated and dignified?'

In a associated cognition with Dutch police, Nitschke's bureau successful Haarlem extracurricular Amsterdam, wherever his ain euthanasia radical Exit International is based, was raided.

Nitschke, a GP successful Australia astir 2 decades ago, has a agelong and arguable way record.

One of his galore erstwhile 'inventions' was the Exit Bag, a specially designed integrative container which created an airtight seal astir the cervix to suffocate users.

'I hatred the integrative bag,' helium admitted astatine the time. 'And that's wherefore I thought: however tin we marque a integrative container look much beautiful? How tin I marque it a spot much glamorous and stylish?'

The effect was the Sarco. The termination capsule was confiscated by the Swiss authorities, but Nitschke is present creating different one, again utilizing a 3D printer, helium revealed successful a YouTube video this week.

Back successful Switzerland, his subordinate Willet speculated what helium thought the constabulary would bash pursuing the decease of the woman, the insubstantial reported.

'I deliberation the accidental that they volition prehend the assemblage volition beryllium 99 per cent,' helium said.

'And I estimation the accidental they volition instrumentality the Sarco astatine 80 per cent. The accidental they volition detain me, I estimation astatine 10 per cent.'

But did helium cipher his ain likelihood of inactive being successful a situation compartment astir six weeks later?

• Additional reporting: Rob Hyde & Tim Stewart