In June 2020, Otto Z, a doctor who had been caring for his elderly mother, Doria, in her Munich apartment, found himself under police suspicion following her death. Otto, whose last name is withheld due to German privacy laws, had been his mother's primary caregiver for years after she suffered a stroke.
After Doria's passing, Otto contacted a funeral home. However, instead of funeral home staff, police officers arrived at his apartment, followed by a coroner from the Munich Institute of Forensic Medicine. Otto, who had intended to issue his mother's death certificate as a doctor, noted that coroners are typically dispatched to scenes of suspicious deaths.
Otto was asked to leave his flat while police searched the premises. He later returned and was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where samples were extracted from him. Subsequently, he was held at a police station for two or possibly three nights. During questioning, officers inquired about his mother's care and whether he had given her a concentrated saline injection, leading Otto to understand he was suspected of murder. He was later released without formal charges.