"No, I am not a poisoner," anaesthetist Frédéric Péchier proclaimed one last time before the Doubs Assise Court in France withdrew to deliberate on Monday after three and a half months of gruelling trial.
The 53-year-old anaesthetist from Besançon, north-eastern France, is being prosecuted for poisoning 30 patients, 12 of whom died. He faces life imprisonment.
"I have been fighting for eight years against being portrayed as a poisoner," he said in court, but "no, I am not a poisoner, and I have always respected the oath I took in 1999, which is the Hippocratic Oath."
A life sentence with a minimum term of 22 years in prison has been sought against the doctor.
The prosecution has described the doctor as a ‘serial killer’ whose crimes are "highly perverse."
His defence attorney, Randall Schwerdorffer, attempted to instil doubt in the minds of the jurors. ‘I ask you to acquit Frédéric Péchier outright,’ he said after approximately five hours of closing arguments.
To convict the doctor, "you need evidence," Schwerdorffer insisted. However, in this case, the prosecution "has argued that there is overwhelming evidence, when in fact there is no evidence whatsoever."
The two prosecutors disagreed. The defendant "is one of the greatest criminals in history" and "used medicine to kill," prosecutors Thérèse Brunisso and Christine de Curraize stated after more than ten hours of closing arguments.
They claimed Péchier would discreetly introduce potassium, local anaesthetics, adrenaline or heparin into infusion bags. These poisoned bags were then administered to patients, causing cardiac arrests or haemorrhages that were incomprehensible to the medical staff.
The verdict is expected by Friday.
