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Inside the bleak Swiss suicide clinic in an industrial zone where healthy US mother-of-three Catherine Kassenoff ended her life 'to punish ex husband' in custody battle
Its website evokes picture postcard Swiss landscapes including the snow-covered Matterhorn with pine forests in its foothills surrounded by meadows dotted with spring flowers.
But the Pegasos end-of-life clinic is actually located in an anonymous grey building set among builders merchants and factories close to the Oristalstrasse highway in the sprawling urban area south of the city of Basel.
And it was here, it emerged this week, where a US mother chose to end her own life in order to 'punish' her estranged husband.
Catherine Kassenoff died by elective suicide - despite having no fatal illness like most of Pegasos' clientele - because, she said, her husband Alan had been abusing her and their children for years.
The 54-year-old lawyer from Westchester in New York State travelled to Switzerland to die at the clinic in May last year following a long battle to try and win custody of her children.
The Pegasos end-of-life clinic is actually located in an anonymous grey building (pictured) set among builders merchants and factories close to the Oristalstrasse highway in the sprawling urban area south of the city of Basel
Catherine Kassenoff (pictured) died by elective suicide - despite having no fatal illness like most of Pegasos' clientele - because, she said, her husband Alan had been abusing her and their children for years
Previously published images of the rooms occupied by the clinic show them furnished with modern and sleek furniture, white-painted walls, large potted plants, and upward lighting to try and create a calming interior
Pictured above is one of the clinic's death rooms. On the bed is Cindy Siegel Shelpler, right, with her husband David before she died at Pegasos on December 16, 2019
Her husband has since denied being abusive but the revelation of Catherine's suicide and the circumstances around it made headlines around the world when it emerged earlier this week.
Pegasos does not mention the location of its so-called 'operational apartment' on its website, which only gives its registered business address as being in a building used by a firm of accountants in the city of Basel.
MailOnline can reveal that it actually operates in ground floor rooms at one end of a two-storey building in a cul-de-sac off the Oristalstrasse highway on the outskirts of Liestal around ten miles from its registered office.
The building, which has several industrial and commercial units including a flooring firm on the upper floor, overlooks cars parked on the road outside at the front and trees on an embankment at the rear.
Previously published images of the rooms occupied by the clinic show them furnished with modern and sleek furniture, white-painted walls, large potted plants, and upward lighting to try and create a calming interior.
Hundreds of mainly foreign clients have ended their lives at Pegasos since it was set up six-years ago, including scores of Britons, Americans and Australians, taking advantage of Swiss laws which allow assisted dying.
Pegasos charges 10,000 Swiss Francs or £8,700 for what it advertises as death with minimal 'bureaucracy' including cremation of a client and the return by courier of their ashes to a loved one.
The rate is around 1,000 Swiss Francs or £860 cheaper than the near identical service offered by the better-known Swiss clinic Dignitas which is based in a more picturesque location with balconies surrounded by grass and a duck pond.
The clinic's founder Ruedi Habegger set it up after previously working for his GP sister Erika Preisig who runs her own assisted dying clinic.
He established his one in Liestal beneath his sister's death room in the same building without telling her beforehand in 2019, leading to a bitter family rift.
Dr Preisig admitted in a recent interview she still has a strained relationship with her brother, saying: 'We have no contact with each other. That's a good thing.'
Pegasos does not mention the location of its so-called 'operational apartment' on its website, which only gives its registered business address as being in a building used by a firm of accountants in the city of Basel (pictured)
Its website evokes picture postcard Swiss landscapes including the snow-covered Matterhorn with pine forests in its foothills surrounded by meadows dotted with spring flowers
MailOnline can reveal that it actually operates in ground floor rooms at one end of a two-storey building in a cul-de-sac off the Oristalstrasse highway on the outskirts of Liestal around ten miles from its registered office
One of Pegasos's death rooms is pictured in a 2020 documentary about Laura Henkel (centre) who chose to die there
The rate is around 1,000 Swiss Francs or £860 cheaper than the near identical service offered by the better-known Swiss clinic Dignitas (pictured) which is based in a more picturesque location with balconies surrounded by grass and a duck pond
Pegasos states on its website that it is a non-profit Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) organisation which believes it is it is 'the human right of every rational adult of sound mind, regardless of state of health, to choose the manner and timing of their death.'
Anyone using the service must first become a registered supporter at an annual cost of 100 Swiss Francs, although it can be done at the point when people want to die.
Swiss law allows for assisted suicide, as long as the motive of those assisting is 'not selfish' and the person requesting assistance has 'decision-making capacity', making them have 'control' or 'ownership of the action' over their death.
According to Swissinfo.ch, around 1,300 people died by assisted suicide in Switzerland in 2020.
Pegasos promises to streamline the process to allow an assisted death to go ahead in Switzerland by simplifying applications through its online platform.
It does not just accept people who have a terminal illness, but also welcomes applications from those suffering from old age or serious pain.
People with mental health issues are not excluded, but they may have to undergo an assessment by a Swiss psychiatrist before they are accepted.
The website states that family, friends and even pets of clients are welcome to attend their 'gentle end of life'.
The clinic also has a Spotify subscription, enabling people to die to the accompaniment of music of their own choice.
Clients have a cannula attached to a vein in their arms with a tap allowing a lethal drug to be fed directly into their bodies, rendering them unconscious within a minute and killing them shortly afterwards under medical supervision.
The tap has to be operated by clients to comply with assisted dying legislation, but the clinic boasts of having 'an ingenious device that requires a simple bump to start the infusion', meaning that even tetraplegic people can open the drip themselves.
In a guide to assisted dying in Switzerland by former MP John Watson he says Pegasos recommended clients stay in the Hotel Engel in Liestal on the night before their deaths to allow paperwork to be finalised.
It seems a strange choice given that the 17th century hotel's restaurant is hell themed and called 'Mad Angel', offering what it describes as 'devilishly good food' such as steaks, ravioli and burgers served in a 'hellishly great ambience'.
Pegasos states on its website that it is a non-profit Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) organisation which believes it is it is 'the human right of every rational adult of sound mind, regardless of state of health, to choose the manner and timing of their death'
In a guide to assisted dying in Switzerland by former MP John Watson he says Pegasos recommended clients stay in the Hotel Engel (pictured) in Liestal on the night before their deaths to allow paperwork to be finalised
It seems a strange choice given that the 17th century hotel's restaurant is hell themed and called 'Mad Angel', offering what it describes as 'devilishly good food' such as steaks, ravioli and burgers served in a 'hellishly great ambience'
One table where diners can pose for pictures has a backdrop of a set of large black feathered wings, making them appear like a demon sitting down to eat at the £170-a-night hotel
The walls of the adjoining Mad Angel lounge are draped in red curtains and decorated with pictures of animals dressed in human clothing to add to the devilish atmosphere
The restaurant which some may consider a bizarre place to enjoy a last supper has black walls and a ceiling cut away in parts to reveal red growing lights, giving diners the impression that they are eating with the flames of hell burning around them.
One table where diners can pose for pictures has a backdrop of a set of large black feathered wings, making them appear like a demon sitting down to eat at the £170-a-night hotel.
The walls of the adjoining Mad Angel lounge are draped in red curtains and decorated with pictures of animals dressed in human clothing to add to the devilish atmosphere.
One regular diner said: 'You often seen people eating their last meal here before they die. The décor makes it a little strange, but I guess it appeals to people with a sense of humour.'
Mr Watson reported in 2022 that Pegasos had 560 registered supporters with around 12 per cent of them coming from the UK – and the clinic could handle 200 deaths a year.
He described Pegasos as being 'somewhat unique' as it gave a straight 'Yes or no' answer to most applicants, leading to the majority of clients wanting to die straight away, instead of just getting a 'provisional green light'.
Catherine Kassenoff travelled to the Pegasos after announcing on Facebook that she was 'ending my own life' after her husband was given sole custody of their three daughters.
She also shared videos of her husband allegedly throwing tantrums, calling her a 'fat, old loser' and saying he hated her.
A number of the videos were uploaded by TikTok influencer Robbie Harvey, an advocate for women in abusive relationships, and circulated online by many of his three million followers.
Mr Kassenoff who vigorously denied being abusive sued Harvey last year over the sharing of the clips, claiming they had led to his financial and emotional ruin, before the case was settled for an undisclosed sum.
Pegasos also came under fire last summer after British chemistry teacher Alastair Hamilton took his own life at the clinic without telling his family.
Catherine Kassenoff (pictured with her husband and daughters) travelled to the Pegasos after announcing on Facebook that she was 'ending my own life' after her husband was given sole custody of their three daughters
Pegasos also came under fire last summer after British chemistry teacher Alastair Hamilton took his own life at the clinic (pictured) without telling his family
Pegasos advises clients of several things to 'keep in mind' before their visit at the clinic
The building, which has several industrial and commercial units including a flooring firm on the upper floor, overlooks cars parked on the road outside at the front and trees on an embankment at the rear
Pegasos also came under fire last summer after British chemistry teacher Alastair Hamilton (pictured) took his own life at the clinic without telling his family
His distraught mother Judith Hamilton, 81, called the Pegasos facility a 'cowboy clinic'
His relatives only learned he had gone there after police examined his bank account statements and found that he had transferred thousands of pounds to Pegasos, leading his mother Judith to brand it a 'cowboy clinic'.
Mr Hamilton had told her that he was visiting a friend in Paris when instead he was flying to Switzerland to die.
In emails to his family, a frustrated Met Police sergeant criticised the clinic's 'lack of compassion and lack of transparency' as 'completely unacceptable'.
The clinic later vowed to change its procedures to ensure that relatives were always informed in future.
In another controversial case, American sisters Ammouri and Susan Frazier decided to die at Pegasos in 2022 because they had become 'tired of life'.
Dr Ammouri, a 54-year-old palliative care doctor, and Ms Frazier, 49, had been suffering from medical 'frustrations' including chronic insomnia, vertigo and back pain, a doctor they consulted told The Independent.
Their grieving brother, Ammouri Ammouri, said he wanted answers over their deaths, telling the New York Post: 'They were so secretive, especially with me.
'Can someone tell me what happened? Do people snap just like that? It could be. You wake up one day and you don't feel like life is precious.'
Anyone helping or encouraging someone to take their own life in England or Wales can jailed for up to 14 years if found guilty of an offence under the Suicide Act introduced in 1961.
A bill to legalise assisted dying was rejected by MPs in the UK in 2015 after a change in the law was opposed by faith groups, and campaigners fearing that it could pressurise disabled people and the terminally ill to end their lives.
- For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.