Overview

• In the fourth week of the Doubs assize trial, Frédéric Péchier acknowledged that Damien Iehlen was poisoned but insisted he was not the author.
• An autopsy found lidocaine at five times a lethal dose in Iehlen’s blood, and experts concluded the drug had been introduced into a perfusion bag before anesthesia.
• Péchier disputes a poisoning diagnosis in the death of Suzanne Ziegler, though two experts now favor lidocaine intoxication after earlier experts declined to conclude.
• Prosecutors point to matching timing and clinical signs in the two October 2008 cases, with lidocaine identified in seized items just four days apart.
• The defense contends an unidentified poisoner is responsible, while reporting notes Péchier has acknowledged three poisonings among the four cases examined so far; he faces a possible life sentence with a verdict due December 19.