Seven members of late film producer Ebbe Preisler’s family charged

Seven family members of the late Danish film producer Ebbe Preisler have been charged with failing to intervene when he attempted suicide last year, the family told Politiken, as confirmed by Copenhagen Police.

Police told the newspaper that “a number of individuals” were charged under Section 253 of the Danish Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison for neglecting to assist a person in clear and immediate danger or failing to take necessary steps to save someone who appears lifeless.

The family is accused of not calling emergency services after finding Preisler dying from a suicide attempt one afternoon in June 2025. His daughter, Louise Preisler, told Politiken he was alive but unconscious. She stayed with him overnight, saying she had heard that the dying do not let go if someone is present.

When she saw he had stopped breathing, she called emergency services and reported his death. She refused to perform life-saving first aid when instructed by the operator, citing a signed document stating he did not wish to be resuscitated.

Louise Preisler and her husband were questioned by police and later informed they might face charges. Seven months later, she was charged, and two weeks ago the charges were extended to the rest of the family.

At the time of his death, Preisler himself was charged with the murder of his wife, Mariann Preisler, who died at a care home on 27 December 2023 after he administered a fatal dose of methadone. He claimed she had wished to die and subsequently attempted suicide himself. He was revived and then charged.

Months earlier, the couple had written a column in Politiken expressing their wish for assistance in ending their lives together.

David Neutzsky-Wulff, Louise Preisler’s lawyer, told Politiken it was “simply incomprehensible” that police were pursuing a case with no injured party.