[Drug-induced unconsciousness with subsequent criminal acts]

Report on observations from the last ten years with covert administration of drugs (ketamine, lorazepam, temazepam) as well as other anesthetics (chloroform) in which the subsequent clouding of consciousness or unconsciousness was exploited for criminal acts. These were sexual abuse and robbery; in one case, the anesthesized person was the victim of a flat fire, and in the other case forced breathing of chloroform led to fatal intoxication. The examples show that without routine chemical and toxicological investigations in unclear circumstances of death, but also when the cause of death ist apparently certain, the underlying cause may easily be overlooked. Furthermore, covert administration of anesthetics in alcoholic drinks and subsequent robbery is still to be reckoned with in the appropriate milieu.