French physician who poisoned dozens of sufferers killing 12 of them is jailed for all times with prosecutors calling him ‘one of many best criminals in historical past’
A French court on Thursday sentenced a doctor to life in jail for poisoning 30 child and adult patients, 12 of whom died, in an alleged attempt to discredit co-workers.
Frederic Péchier, 53, worked as an anaesthetist in two clinics in the eastern city of Besancon, when patients went into cardiac arrest in suspicious circumstances between 2008 to 2017.
Twelve could not be resuscitated.
Once considered by colleagues to be a highly-skilled practitioner, the prosecution described him as ‘one of the greatest criminals in history,’ and guilty of having ‘used medicine to kill’.
Péchier was first placed under investigation eight years ago, when a 36-year-old patient called Sandra Simard, who was otherwise healthy, had surgery on her spine and her heart stopped beating.
After an intensive care physician failed to revive her, Péchier subsequently gave her an injection and the patient went into a coma and survived.
Alarm was sounded with local prosecutors when intravenous drugs used to treat her then showed concentrations of potassium 100 times the expected dose.
He has not practised medicine since 2017, but in 2023 he was authorised to work provided he did not come into contact with patients.
French former anaesthetist Frederic Péchier arrives at Besancon’s courthouse in Besancon, eastern France, on December 15, 2025
The sentence, which has a minimum term of 22 years, comes after more than 15 weeks of hearings.
The 53-year-old doctor had been on trial since September 8 before the Besançon Court of Appeal.
He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, as his lawyer Randall Schwerdorffer asked for his ‘outright’ acquittal, citing a lack of irrefutable evidence.
On Monday, the court retired to a secret location to deliberate on the guilt or innocence of the former anaesthetist.
A vote was held for each of the 30 cases of poisoning he was accused of committing, between 2008 and 2017 in two private clinics in Besançon, on patients aged four to 89.
For each vote, guilt could only be proclaimed by a majority of at least seven out of nine votes.
‘It’s a relief, a liberation, because the shame has shifted sides,’ said Stéphane Giuranna, lawyer for several of the civil parties, on Thursday morning.
‘He has been found guilty of all the charges, making him the greatest criminal in French judicial history. I have no doubt there will be a rematch; we are ready to face him.’
French former anaesthetist Frederic Pechier (R) arrives at Besancon’s courthouse next to his lawyer, Randall Schwerdorffer, in Besancon, eastern France, on December 15, 2025
Péchier was found guilty of contaminating IV bags with potassium, local anesthetics, adrenaline, and heparin to induce cardiac arrest or hemorrhaging in patients being treated by fellow doctors.
His intention was to ‘psychologically harm’ the colleagues with whom he was in conflict and to ‘feed his thirst for power’, according to the prosecution.
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