Mother took her own life at Swiss suicide clinic 'to punish husband for getting custody of their children'
7 July 2024, 12:45 | Updated: 10 July 2024, 05:27
A mother-of-three has taken her own life in a Swiss suicide clinic in order to punish her estranged husband, after he secured custody of their children, it has been claimed.
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54-year-old Catherine Kassenoff wrote on her Facebook page last year that she would be "ending my own life".
Having worked as a successful litigator, she claimed her husband, Allan Kassenoff, had been abusing her and their children for years, prompting her to take her own life during their custody battle.
Her husband was given sole custody of their three daughters, and his wife said she decided to kill herself once she lost visitation rights, and following a diagnosis of terminal cancer.
But details have emerged following her suicide, alongside claims from former nannies, that Ms Kassenoff allegedly punished her own adopted daughter by "dripping water" on her all day, so she couldn't sleep, the Daily Mail reported.
Supposedly, she treated her other daughters, who were conceived via IVF, in a much kinder way.
As well as writing on Facebook, Ms KassenoffMs Kassenoff also shared thousands of court documents, as well as videos of her husband, in a Dropbox link which now no longer works.
One report, which was seen by The Free Press outlet, was written by UK-based former psychiatrist Colin Brewer.
In his report for the Pegasus Swiss Association, he wrote that Ms Kassenoff was of "sound enough mind" to end her life.
The Pegasus clinic is known for assisting people are not on the verge of dying to end their lives.
Mr Brewer shared that initially she had planned to kill herself twice, first in October 2022, but this was postponed for administrative reasons.
Brewer told the outlet that he had to rewrite medical reports for her every time, stating: "She was always very calm.
"She got naturally a bit exasperated when talking about her husband. [She was] very clear about what she wanted to do and why she wanted to do it."
He said her cancer diagnosis was never the reason for her ending her life but rather an "existential assisted suicide".
Brewer said: "She was just concerned that she had been treated abominably by her husband."
He said Ms Kassenoff's death was one of "understandable misery".
Allegedly Ms Kassenoff made arrangements for her children to learn of her death in the simplest way possible, but her adopted daughter Ally discovered her mother's Facebook post on the day she died.
A lengthy custody battle had determined that it would be "in the best interest of the children" for their father to have sole legal and physical custody, following a neutral forensic evaluator's assessment.
But her husband has now been forced to quit his job as a lawyer following a leave of absence in June, because TikToker Robbie Harvey, an advocate for women in abusive relationships, started uploading videos Catherine had shared on her Facebook.
Catherine shared videos of Kassenoff throwing tantrums and calling her a "fat, old loser".
In another video, he was heard berating the mother-of-three and saying he hated her.
Further clips show him supposedly screaming behind doors, screaming at his kids to "shut up", dramatically leaving their home, and refusing to take care of the children that were in his custody.
Allan Kasenoff sued Harvey last year for him sharing the clips, claiming they led to financial and emotional ruin.
The lawsuit states that Harvey's followers "bombarded" the law firm with over 7,000 calls and 500 emails accusing him of being the reason why Catherine took her life.
Allan sought out $150 million to compensate him for his loss of earnings and his diminished reputation, and they settled at the start of the week, for an unidentified amount.
Recently, Harvey released a nine-minute video apologising for the videos, stating the had "made some mistakes in the reporting" of the divorce.
He added: "Catherine did not provide a complete record of what was happening. I echoed exactly what Catherine said.
"I wish I would have known the whole story at the time when I was reporting the Kassenoff case. But I did not. Now that more facts have been presented to me, I now see where I was wrong."
Meanwhile, a Go Fund Me page has been set up by one of Catherine's close friends, to raise money for her daughters.
It states: "If you knew Catherine, you knew that what she cared about above all was bringing those girls into the world and giving them a great life.
"When everyone urged her to leave an explosive marriage, she said her children had a beautiful life and she did not want to disrupt it.
"Catherine's four-year fight to see her girls cost her all her money. The financial situation was dire.
"We do not think there will be much (if anything) to leave the girls and would like to ask for contributions to give them something from their Mom to help them into their adult years."
At the time of writing, more than $7,000 has been raised.
Those feeling distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
