Did the Kessler Twins Really Pay Thousands for Their Assisted Suicides?

New details are emerging about the Kessler Twins' assisted suicides.

TMZ has reported that Wega Wetzel, a spokesperson for the company that arranged Alice and Ellen Kessler's assisted suicides, DGHS, said that the ongoing rate for one assisted suicide is 4,000 euros per person or 6,000 euros for two. This includes the expenses of doctors and lawyers.

Alice and Ellen Kessler, who died at the age of 89, contacted DGHS, which translates to German Society for Humane Dying, over a year ago. Wetzel claimed that they wanted to end their lives on their own terms and together. They died at their home in Grünwald near Munich this week.

The Kessler Twins' joint assisted suicides explored:

Wetzel told TMZ that during the process, a physician injects the patients with a high dose of anesthetic. However, it is the patients themselves who have to administer the infusion. Once they are dead, DGHS alerts the police. The outlet has reported that the company helmed over 600 cases of assisted suicide last year.

The company also states that candidates are mandated to have a membership with DGHS for at least 6 months. They must also submit applications for placements and consult several lawyers, doctors, and even relatives ahead of the assisted suicide.

CNN has reported that Alice and Ellen Kessler were most known for having risen to fame in the 1950s. They represented Germany at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, made several appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” made the cover of Life magazine, and performed alongside music giants like Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Rock Hudson.

“The decisive factor is likely to have been the desire to die together on a specific date,” Wetzel told CNN. “Their desire to die was well-considered, long-standing, and free from any psychiatric crisis,” Wetzel said. “The police come to check the situation and the circumstances, and if it’s all OK then it’s OK,” Wetzel added, per The Guardian.

She also said that she wasn't aware of the specific reasons the Kessler twins gave for their demise. During an interview with Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper, last year, the Kessler Twins said they wanted “to go away together on the same day.”

“The idea that one of us might get it first is very hard to bear,” they added at the time.

CNN has also reported that they wanted to have their ashes interred into the same urn, alongside their mother, Elsa, and dog, Yello.

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