History’s Most Terrifyingly Psychotic “Doctors”
1. Walter Jackson Freeman II
Lobotomies were arguably something of a medical fashion during the 1940s and 50s, and Walter Jackson Freeman II is largely to thank for that.
The American neurologist became notorious for the controversial surgery, which entails cutting or shaving off a particular section of the brain, in the hopes of treating primarily psychiatric issues.
The now-discredited procedure was disproportionately performed on women who were considered “difficult,” or mentally unstable.
Even though it was technically recommended for specific psychiatric cases, such as schizophrenia, it was overly prescribed to women who simply did not conform to the social ideal of the time.
Homosexuals were also subjected to this horrifying surgery, which led to either death or patients becoming comatose-like vegetables for the rest of their lives.
While Walter was perhaps not driven by some sick desire to destroy peoples’ brains, his mania to perfect the technique – he went so far as to perform at least 20 lobotomies a day, sometimes in front of an audience – led to the destruction of thousands of lives.
He was finally banned from work as a doctor, but only in his twilight years.
2. Marcel Petiot
While Europe was at the mercy of one of the most unforgiving wars in history – WWII – France especially was forced to wrestle with many, many evils.
One of the most shocking and disturbing figures to have emerged during the war was that of physician and serial killer Marcel Petiot, whose heinous crimes shocked his fellow countrymen to the core.
Having been diagnosed at different intervals throughout his youth as mentally disturbed.
Marcel somehow continued to live his life unchecked, serving in WWI, and moving on to become a physician.
According to many accounts, his first full-blown mental breakdown occurred on the battlefield in 1918, wherein he was wounded and gassed by enemy forces.
Nonetheless, he was quickly released with a disability pension and went on to attend accelerated schooling for war veterans, which helped him to complete medical school.
The troubled Marcel went on to open his own clinic after interning at a mental institution, and he quickly attracted notoriety for leading an underground network for illegal abortions and drugs.
He somehow managed to avoid any legal action from the authorities for quite a long time.
However, one day in early March 1944, Marcel’s neighbors complained to local police of a terrible stench.
Having seen large wafts of smoke emanating from his home, authorities feared a chimney fire.
When they arrived at Marcel’s, they found dismembered body parts strewn throughout the fire, and even more –human remains in the basement.
Given the country’s wider turmoil due to the war, Marcel managed to escape arrest, and the search for him led to a media frenzy in which he was deemed “The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied France.”
Marcel hid for a while with one of his patients, and when that no longer became feasible, he found sanctuary disguised as a captain of counterespionage forces.
He was finally discovered and tried in 1946, sentenced to death by beheading.
Police had found the body parts of at least 60 patients in Marcel’s home, although the true number of those he murdered and dismembered is widely believed to be far greater.
3. Eugenics Inspired Doctors in the United States
4. Carl Clauberg
Nazi-run concentration camps remain infamous for their stark inhumanity and cruelty and there were a few horrifying physicians operating without impunity.
One of these figures was German doctor Carl Clauberg, who carried out many disturbing experiments on the unfortunate inmates in Aushwitz.
Carl’s prime interest was in exploring sterilization methods, and he received top approval from Heinrich Himmler himself to conduct these experiments on women.
Most of his victims were either Jewish or Gypsy women, which he used for his shockingly cruel tests.
In an attempt to find cheap methods of sterilization, he would inject acid into their uterus, without anesthesia.
Nowadays, the medical maleficence carried out by the Nazis seems almost exaggerated in their blatant evil.
But sadly, these tests were arguably the natural extension of popular race-based sciences of the day, such as Eugenics.
Many of the women Clauberg experimented on died, and approximately 700 managed to survive the brutal procedure, which inevitably affected their health and psyche forever.
Carl was captured by Soviet troops in 1945 but was released in 1955.
Upon his return to West Germany, Carl managed to reopen a medical practice.
But he blew his cover with insistent boasting regarding his so-called achievements in sterilization at Auschwitz and was arrested.
He died of a heart attack before being put on trial for his crimes.
5. H. H. Holmes
Yet another serial killer disguised as a doctor, Dr. Henry Howard Holmes is often remembered as one of the earliest mass murderers in American history.
Bullied as a child for his fear of doctors, Henry was forced by his classmates to stare at a skeleton for hours.
The macabre form of teasing managed to instill a kind of eerie comfort in Henry with death and thus began his fascination with medicine and the intricacies of the human body.
He went on to graduate from Michigan Medical School, where it is said that he stole and maimed cadavers.
This sick pastime formed the basis for one of his first run-ins with the law, as he attempted to collect insurance by claiming that the bodies died in accidents.
Perhaps the most terrifying chapter in Henry’s career as a serial killer came with the construction of his “Murder Hotel,” which took place during the 1893 Chicago World Fair.
The hotel served primarily as a torture chamber wherein clientele would frequently disappear, never to be found again.
Henry mutilated and murdered people – many of whom were women – and stripped their bodies of flesh to make skeleton models.
While the true number of his victims remains a mystery – due in large part to the tall tales Henry so often spun – some sources report that he killed perhaps 200 people during his lifetime.
He was eventually caught in 1897, and sentenced to hanging. One of his last requests was to be buried in concrete, as he feared his grave would be robbed and his body cut up by others.
Despite the bizarre nature of his entreaty, it was granted.