BESANÇON, FRANCE—The courtroom gasps were audible as the verdict was read: Frédéric Péchier, the once-respected anesthesiologist whom prosecutors branded a “serial killer” in a white coat, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for a chilling decade-long campaign of poisoning patients to engineer medical emergencies only he could solve.
The 53-year-old, known in the French media as “Doctor Death” (Docteur la Mort), was found guilty of intentionally poisoning 30 patients, 12 of whom died, at two private clinics in the eastern city of Besançon between 2008 and 2017.
The verdict concludes one of the most harrowing medical malpractice trials in modern French history, exposing a twisted “hero complex” where operating theaters were turned into crime scenes and patients—ranging from a four-year-old child to an 89-year-old pensioner—became pawns in a deadly game of ego.
The ‘Angel of Mercy’ with a Lethal Grudge
Throughout the grueling three-month trial, prosecutors painted a picture of a brilliant but narcissistic doctor driven by a pathological need for power and a desire to humiliate his colleagues.
The court found that Péchier systematically sabotaged the surgeries of other anesthesiologists with whom he was feuding. His method was stealthy and terrifying: injecting lethal doses of potassium chloride, adrenaline, or local anesthetics into IV bags already prepared for patients.
- The Motive: When the patients inevitably went into cardiac arrest, Péchier would rush in—often from a nearby room—to diagnose the problem instantly and “save” them, basking in the admiration of the team while his rivals looked incompetent.
- The Prosecutor’s Closing: “You are Doctor Death, a poisoner, a murderer. You bring shame on all doctors,” declared prosecutor Christine de Curraize during closing arguments. “You have turned this clinic into a graveyard.”
Victims: From a Child to a Grandmother
The testimony from survivors and bereaved families left the courtroom in tears. Among the victims was Teddy, a four-year-old boy who suffered two massive cardiac arrests during a routine tonsillectomy in 2016. He survived only because Péchier intervened, but his parents told the court the trauma has left permanent psychological scars.
“It’s inhuman, it’s vile,” said Teddy’s father, Hervé Hoerter Tarby. “He used our son to settle scores.”
Another victim, Sandra Simard, was a healthy 36-year-old undergoing back surgery in 2017 when her heart suddenly stopped. Toxicology reports later found potassium levels in her system were 100 times the lethal dose. She survived but spent days in a coma.
‘I Am Not a Poisoner’
Péchier, who remained free under judicial supervision throughout the trial, maintained his innocence to the very end. “I have said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a poisoner,” he told the court in his final statement. His defense team argued that the deaths were the result of “medical errors” by incompetent colleagues who were trying to frame him.
The jury rejected that defense after deliberating for hours. The life sentence carries a minimum security period of 22 years before parole can be considered.
As police led him away to begin his sentence, the “star anesthesiologist”—who once bragged he was the “Zorro” of the operating room—looked back at a gallery filled with the families of those who never woke up.