Zurich Oberland Dignitas doctor (87) strangles his partner - and is still not convicted
A senior citizen dies from lack of oxygen in the Zurich Oberland, her partner is suspected of murder. But the investigation paints a different picture - one of a rare, potentially dangerous sleep disorder.
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- An 87-year-old man was arrested in 2024 after the death of his partner.
- A psychiatric report came to the conclusion that the man almost certainly suffered from a rare sleep disorder and committed the crime in a state of lack of reality control.
- He remains unprosecuted, but has to pay legal costs.
The case made headlines in September 2024: At 3.30 a.m., an 87-year-old man reported via emergency call that his partner was no longer breathing. Forensic medicine later diagnosed "brain death due to lack of oxygen as a result of strangulation".
The 87-year-old is arrested and questioned on the same day. He declares that he has no memory. When he woke up in the apartment they shared in the Zurich Oberland, she "no longer had a pulse and was not breathing".
Criminal proceedings were opened against him for intentional homicide - these have now been dropped, as the "Beobachter" reports.
The public prosecutor's office found no motive in its investigation. The couple was considered harmonious. No evidence of a quarrel, no known conflicts. She was active in the local senior citizens' network, he continued to work as a GP despite his advanced age and was a medical officer for the euthanasia organization Dignitas.
Expert opinion turns the tide
A psychiatric report is therefore crucial: Acquaintances report "sudden, sweeping movements" in their sleep, some with "minor injuries". The commissioned expert came to the conclusion that the senior citizen was "almost certainly" suffering from REM sleep behavior disorder.
In this rare disorder, the muscles remain active during dreams. Those affected can act out dreams physically - sometimes "impulsively and dangerously". According to the expert, the sleep disorder was the cause of the crime.
According to the "Beobachter", the public prosecutor's office states that the accused acted "with a loss of reality check, without insight into the injustice of the act and without the ability to control himself".
"Spooky" and extremely rare
According to the law, there is no criminal liability in such a state. The proceedings are discontinued, the decision remains uncontested and becomes legally binding in December 2025.
According to experts, such cases are exceptional. Forensic scientist Frank Urbaniok describes the disorder as "spooky", according to the "Beobachter". In over 30 years, he has only seen around four similar cases - none of which ended fatally.
The senior does not comment publicly. His lawyer says that "detailed sleep medical examinations" have confirmed the diagnosis. The doctor is not prosecuted, but has to pay over 30,000 francs in legal costs.
His professional license has been revoked. The authorities also ordered him to sleep separately from female partners in future. Those close to him were also informed of his "potential dangerousness".
