Former top medic described as ‘Dr Death’ by prosecutors poisoned 30 people ranging in age from four to 89
A French anaesthetist described by prosecutors as “Dr Death” has been found guilty of intentionally poisoning 30 patients and killing 12 over almost a decade as a top medic.
Frédéric Péchier, 53, once seen by colleagues as a “star anaesthetist”, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after state prosecutors said he was “one of the biggest criminals in the history of the French legal system”.
The state prosecutor Christine de Curraize said Péchier was a “serial killer” who was “highly twisted” and had tampered with colleagues’ paracetamol bags or anaesthesia pouches to poison patients, triggering heart attacks.
Another state prosecutor, Thérèse Brunisso, said Péchier was not a doctor “but a criminal who used medicine to kill”. The victims were aged between four and 89.
