September 18, 2025
Man accused of selling deadly drugs had the “gift of the gab”
A man accused of selling deadly drugs to elderly residents through a charity had the “gift of the gab”, according to the Gold Coast co-ordinator of a pro-euthanasia organisation.
Exit International Gold Coast Chapter co-ordinator Cath Henderson said she first crossed paths with 53-year-old Main Beach man Brett Daniel Taylor some time in 2021.
He was charged with two counts of aiding suicide on Friday September 12.
Ms Henderson said the volunteer-run pro-euthanasia organisation hosts quarterly meetings for its members.
“He wished to come and speak at one of my meetings … and he told me what he did and it sounded very good at this stage, so I let him address one of the meetings,” Ms Henderson said.
Ms Henderson said there were two meetings that Mr Taylor spoke at.
She was aware he was talking to Exit International members, offering a free consultation to “discuss things with them”.
“But it turned out that he was coming away with a fee, which was for one person, about $2500,” Ms Henderson said.
Mr Taylor’s business offered services through its website, including $2500 for “ensuring your will is administered to your wishes” and $2950 for a “single” service, 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.” There is also an option for “couple service” which cost $5600.
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.
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.
Mr Taylor has been charged with two counts of aiding suicide.
One charge relates to the death of 43-year-old Hope Island quadriplegic David Llewellyn Bedford on April 11.
Toxicology results from a post-mortem examination confirmed Mr Bedford had died from acute pentobarbitone toxicity.
The second charge was a result of a police sting operation at a Southport retirement village last week.
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.
Mr Taylor has not entered any pleas and was due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday September 18.
Ms Henderson said she barred Mr Taylor from addressing any more Exit International meetings after the initial two in 2021.
“When I told him I wouldn’t allow him at any meetings any more he got quite irate, so then he joined as a member and he would come to my meetings,” she said.
“He used to draw attention to himself.
“He had the gift of the gab, he could sell coal to Newcastle.”
Ms Henderson said a membership list from August showed Mr Taylor was still a member of Exit International.
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.
Exit International has a more than 20-year history of advocating for voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide in Australia.
Neither the group or Ms Henderson are accused of any wrongdoing.
Cath Henderson
The organisation has been a vocal advocate for voluntary assisted dying laws, which came into effect in Queensland in January 2023.
But there are strict rules and protocols around who is able to access the scheme and how.
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.
There is no suggestion of 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 Henderson’s predecessor, former Gold Coast Exit International chapter co-ordinator Elaine Arch-Rowe, 81, was granted bail in the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday September 16.
Her charge of attempt to aid suicide arose out of last week’s undercover police operation.
She is also charged with one count each of trafficking dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs and sale of potential harmful things.
Through her lawyer, Ms Arch-Rowe has indicated she will be entering pleas of not guilty and taking the matter to trial.
In a statement, Exit International said it was saddened and disappointed by the charges brought against Ms Arch-Rowe.
“Elaine was well known and loved among Exit’s elderly members. With her late husband Peter, she was always only too willing to speak publicly about older Australians’ right to self-determination at the end of life,” Exit Founder Dr Philip Nitschke said.
Exit stated Ms Arch-Rowe stepped down from her volunteer position of running the local Gold Coast chapter of Exit in December 2019 and had “only casual involvement ever since”.
“Given the news reports about Elaine today, events which neither myself nor anyone at Exit had any knowledge of, we can only assume that she was motivated by a sense of compassion for the desperate situation that elderly people sometimes find themselves in,” Dr Nitschke said.
Mr Taylor’s father, Ian George Taylor, 80, is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on September 26 on charges of trafficking in dangerous drugs and possessing dangerous drugs.