A French anaesthetist labelled "Dr Death" by prosecutors has been handed a life sentence after being found guilty of intentionally poisoning 30 patients, resulting in the deaths of 12 people over nearly a decade.
A 'Twisted' Serial Killer in the Operating Theatre
Frédéric Péchier, 53, once considered a leading light in his field, was convicted on Thursday in a case that prosecutors described as one of the most severe in French legal history. State prosecutors Christine de Curraize and Thérèse Brunisso argued that Péchier was a "highly twisted" serial killer who tampered with anaesthesia pouches and paracetamol bags to induce fatal heart attacks in his victims, who ranged from four to 89 years old.
"He is not a doctor but a criminal who used medicine to kill," prosecutor Brunisso told the court. The three-month trial in Besançon, eastern France, heard that Péchier's motives were complex and chilling. In some instances, he allegedly poisoned patients so he could later intervene and resuscitate them, casting himself in the role of a hero. In others, he targeted the patients of colleagues he was in conflict with, aiming to discredit their professional competence.
Victims Used as 'Cannon-Fodder' in Professional Feuds
The court heard harrowing testimony from survivors and families of those who died. Péchier's youngest victim was a four-year-old boy, identified as Tedy, who suffered two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil operation in 2016. The child's father, Hervé Hoerter Tarby, said the family felt "betrayed" by the medical profession, describing their ordeal as a "nightmare." He told the court his son was used as an object to "settle scores" between doctors.
Now 14, Tedy submitted a written statement read by his father, describing his "great suffering" and lasting fears. "I understand that, when I was only four, someone used me and my life to create problems," he wrote.
Another victim, Sandra Simard, was 36 when her heart stopped during a back operation in 2017 after her anaesthesia pouch was interfered with. She survived after days in a coma but lives with permanent pain, telling the court she feels like she inhabits "the body of an old person."
A Chilling Lack of Remorse and a Life Behind Bars
Throughout the trial, Péchier maintained his innocence, stating, "I have never poisoned anyone … I am not a poisoner." Lawyers for the victims described him as emotionless and devoid of empathy in court.
The investigation, which examined more than 70 reports of "serious adverse events" at two private clinics between 2008 and 2017, painted a picture of a man driven by a "need for power." Prosecutor de Curraize asserted that killing had become "a way of life" for Péchier, a means of dealing with his own frustrations and feelings of inadequacy.
Péchier, who has ten days to appeal the verdict, was described as coming from a privileged background. He lived in a large house with his cardiologist wife and three children prior to his divorce. His fall from respected medic to convicted murderer, now known forever as "Dr Death," is complete.
