Former anesthesiologist Frédéric Péchier arrives at the Besançon courthouse on December 15, 2025. ARNAUD FINISTRE / AFP
A "serial killer" anesthesiologist who turned his clinic "into a playground," used "his medical expertise" to commit "30 acts of poisoning that resulted in the tragic deaths of 12 victims and caused irreversible harm to the remaining 18." That is how a French criminal court described the case of Frédéric Péchier, sentenced to life imprisonment.
After a memorable three-and-a-half-month trial, on Monday, December 22, Judge Delphine Thibierge issued her statement of reasons detailing the legal basis for the verdict delivered against Péchier four days earlier. The 53-year-old disgraced doctor was immediately taken into custody and placed in solitary confinement.
"The criminal court was convinced of Frédéric Péchier's guilt," Thibierge began in the first line of the 57-page document, which was eagerly awaited by both the defense and the 194 plaintiffs.
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