German court: 'Doctor of Death' is dead

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BADEN-BADEN, Germany, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Aribert Heim, the World War II German Nazi known as "Doctor Death," died in Egypt in 1992, court officials in Germany have confirmed.

A regional court in Baden-Baden, where Heim was last known to have lived in Germany, said Friday it had ended the investigation into his whereabouts because "no doubts remained" he died of cancer in Cairo, Aruth Sheva reported. Heim had changed his name to Tarek Hussein Farid and converted to Islam, the Israeli broadcaster said.

"The criminal case against Dr. Aribert Heim on suspicion of multiple murders has been abandoned because of the death of the accused," the court said in a written statement.

Heim also was known as the "Butcher of Mauthausen" for allegedly performing cruel, inhumane and unnecessary medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners.

Besides the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, Heim also served at the Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald camps in Germany.

German public television channel ZDF and The New York Times had reported in 2009 that Heim had died in 1992 at age 78, but Friday was the first time a German court has stated it as fact.

The court came to the conclusion after Heim's lawyer presented documents, including an Egyptian driver's license with a photograph of Heim under the name Tarek Hussein Farid and a certificate confirming his conversion to Islam and name change. His son also provided information, Aruth Sheva said.