September 16, 2025
How Hope Island man’s whale drug death sparked cross-country probe
EXPLAINED: How Hope Island man’s whale drug death sparked cross-country probe
The assisted suicide death of a 43-year-old quadriplegic Gold Coast man using a whale euthanasia drug has sparked investigations across Australia by Matthew Newton
The assisted suicide death of a 43-year-old quadriplegic Gold Coast man using a whale euthanasia drug has sparked investigations across Australia.
Police allege Main Beach business owner Brett Daniel Taylor, 53, set up a charity to euthanise beached whales but instead sold the drugs to others so they could end their lives.
Mr Taylor, who also runs a wills and probate business called End of Life Services, has been charged with assisting two suicides.
He is also charged with one count each of trafficking in dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs and receiving or possessing property obtained from trafficking or supplying.
Gold Coast Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Inspector Mark Mooney said Mr Taylor was able to source a drug known as pentobarbital lawfully through a registered charity called Cetacean Compassion Australia Ltd.
Southport woman, 81-year-old Elaine Arch-Rowe, has been charged with aiding attempted suicide, and Main Beach man, 53-year-old Brett Daniel Taylor, has been charged with two counts of assisting suicide.
Police are now investigating his alleged links to 20 other people through his business and charity, and that “some of the deaths we have identified go back to 2021”.
Inspector Mooney confirmed there was one death in northern New South Wales that investigators will be liaising with NSW Police on “soon”.
Police also conducted a raid of Mr Taylor’s mother’s house in Diamond Creek in Victoria on Friday, where they located a large number of bottles of the whale euthanasia drug.
Mr Taylor, his mother, Olga Taylor, and his father, Ian George Taylor, are listed as directors of the charity allegedly used to procure the euthanasia drugs.
Ms Taylor has not been charged with any offence.
Police released footage of the arrests of Brett Daniel Taylor, 53, and others.
Mr Taylor on Friday was jointly charged with his 80-year-old father, and former Exit International Gold Coast Chapter co-ordinator Elaine Arch-Rowe as a result of Queensland Police’s “protracted” investigation following the death of 43-year-old Hope Island man David Llewellyn Bedford on April 11.
Toxicology results from a post-mortem examination confirmed Mr Bedford had died from acute pentobarbitone toxicity, a veterinary euthanasia drug.
Only Mr Taylor has been charged with assisting suicide in relation to Mr Bedford’s death.
The elder Mr Taylor, from Ashmore, was charged with one count each of trafficking in dangerous drugs and possessing dangerous drugs.
He is due to appear in court on September 26.
Ms Arch-Rowe, 81, has been charged with one count each of attempt to aid suicide, trafficking dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs and sale of potential harmful things.
Brett Daniel Taylor, 53, from Main Beach, has been charged with two counts of aiding suicide and one count each of trafficking in dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs and receiving or possessing property obtained from trafficking or supplying.
She was granted bail after making an application in Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning.
A Queensland Police Service spokesman said detectives did not believe the Exit International group itself was in any way connected to Mr Taylor’s alleged offending.
“Detectives are not investigating links between the defendant’s business and the Exit International group,” the spokesman said.
Inspector Mooney said there was a possibility of more arrests to come.
He also said police were keeping an open mind in their investigations and there could be further charges against the arrested trio.
Exit International has a more than 20-year history of advocating for voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide in Australia.
The organisation has been a vocal advocate for voluntary assisted dying laws, which came into effect in Queensland in January 2023.
It was founded by Dr Phillip Nitschke, a controversial pro-euthanasia activist and author who earned the “Dr Death” moniker as a result of his advocacy.
News Corp is not suggesting any wrongdoing by Dr Nitschke.
According to the organisation’s website, it has chapters in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the northern rivers of New South Wales, and elsewhere in major centres across the country and abroad.
Exit International describes its chapters as “the grassroots, local way for Exit members around the world to get to know each other and come together for information and support”.
“Exit Chapters are small, informal, local groups of Exit members who meet for friendship and support.”
Ms Arch-Rowe was previously reported in 2019 as saying Exit International had more than 200 members in the Gold Coast – described by Dr Nitschke at the time as the largest membership in Australia.
“We know of so many people on the Gold Coast who are begging doctors to be able to die,” Ms Arch-Rowe said at the time.
The Australian Government Business Register shows Brett Daniel Taylor had been operating since February 2019 as a sole trader, with the business name End of Life Services registered from March 2019.
Company records show the charity police allege he used to obtain the whale euthanasia drug was registered in April 2024.
Detective Inspector Mooney said most of the other suicides police were investigating occurred in people’s own homes or nursing homes.
“Not all of them have used the drug, some have used other methods to commit suicide,” he said.
Detective Inspector Mooney said the alleged use of the whale euthanasia drug was the only one they had come across in their investigations so far.
“There’s also other um suicide kits if you like that have been we believe have been supplied throughout the last three or four years,” he said.
“They were seized as part of those independent investigations.”
Detective Inspector Mooney said investigators had been able to identify payments through bank transactions.
“We will allege he hasn’t acted compassionately at all, this is a business transaction for him, he’s run a business and this is why he’s doing it, just for pure money.”
It is alleged Mr Taylor also offered, through his business, a “finding service” where he would find the client after they ended their life.
The website for Mr Taylor’s business, End of Life Services, offered a range of packages to the public.
The business charged $350 for a will, $1500 for “Discovery” – described as “part of our checking and discovery service”, and $2500 for a “Last Will – Audit”, for ensuring “your will is administered to your wishes”.
The business also offered “Single” services, which included “the preparation for notification, strategic review for will execution, analysis of insurance benefits, estate review and documentation, establish probate documentation, reintegration plan, lifestyle continuity plan, self-care plan.”
Elaine with her late husband, Peter Arch-Rowe