‘why i helped couple who paid to die early’ swiss doctor defends assis

Partially sighted Stuart Henderson, 86, and his cousin Phyliss McConachie, 89, went from Scotland to Switzerland to end their lives at a total cost of £15,000. They lived together in

sheltered housing in Troon but feared falling and being placed in separate care homes. They signed up to an assisted dying plan with the Eternal Spirit group run by Swiss GP Erika Preisig,

57, and her driving instructor partner Marcus Luthi, 60, from their home in Basel. The pair’s nephew did not learn about their plans until after the double suicide had taken place. Divorced

mother-of-three Dr Preisig told the Sunday Express she met the couple in Scotland last October before her brother Ruedi Habegger flew with them to Switzerland in November. She said she tried

to persuade them to tell their nephew that they wanted to die but they were reluctant, fearing he would try and talk them out of it. “Phyliss and Stuart knew what palliative care is and

they didn’t want it until death comes and gets them,” said Dr Preisig. “I interviewed them separately to try and find out if they were influencing each other. "I was trying to persuade

them to inform the nephew. “They just definitely did not want to. "I think they knew he would try to keep them from doing it. “I can understand why the nephew is angry. "It would

have been better if they were able to talk to him. “I offered to ask the nephew to come and talk with me and them but they completely refused.” Dr Preisig claimed Phyliss and Stuart feared

being put in a psychiatric unit if they said they wanted to commit suicide. After their cremation in Basel, their ashes were sent to a relative in Scotland. Their assisted suicide has been

described as “the ultimate abandonment” by Peter Saunders of the Care Not Killing organisation. “It’s a great tragedy that this elderly couple felt driven to this desperate course of action

apparently by the thoughts of being separated,” he said. Dr Preisig has worked for Ludwig Minelli, the founder of Dignitas, the controversial Swiss assisted-suicide group which has a history

of clashing with the authorities. In 2011 she formed Lifecircle, which supports home living for sick and elderly people and has 700 members, who pay 50 Swiss francs (£35) a year. Last year

50 of those members signed up to assisted dying with her sister organisation Eternal Spirit, also run from her home. Since 2011 a total of 120 people, including 15 Britons, have died through

Eternal Spirit, which charges £7,000 per person, excluding travelling expenses. If all those 120 people had paid the full fee there would be about £1million in the foundation’s coffers.

However, Dr Preisig refused to put a figure on how much is in the fund saying it is used for funeral and medical costs of those unable to afford fees. “This is a not for profit

organisation,” said Mr Luthi, the treasurer. The only other person on the board of trustees, apart from the couple, is a Swiss lawyer. The deaths are carried out in a room they rent from a

photographer in Basel. “It is an annexe by his main house,” said Mr Luthi. “It’s very comfortable and the owner knows what happens there.” The annexe has basic facilities and all deaths have

to be filmed by law. The couple refused to say where the building was to protect the privacy of members. Dr Preisig, who did some of her training at a hospital in Manchester, joined

Dignitas after taking her sick father there to die. He was plagued by thoughts of suicide his wife died from a brain haemorrhage when she was aged just 36. Shortly after her death he took

his seven children, including the young Erika, to a forest. He intended to gas them in his car and kill himself with a rifle, but could not go through with it. She said he found peace in old

age and welcomed the opportunity to have an assisted suicide.