Berlin palliative care doctor charged with murdering 15 patients
What's the story
A palliative care physician based in Berlin has been charged with murdering 15 patients.
The Berlin-based physician, identified only as Johannes M, allegedly killed out of "lust" for killing.
Between September 2021 and July 2024, he allegedly killed 12 women and three men with a lethal mix of sedatives.
German press reports have identified him as Johannes M.
Drug misuse
Allegations of unauthorized drug administration
According to the Berlin prosecutor's office, the doctor "administered an anesthetic and a muscle relaxant to his patients...without their knowledge or consent."
These drugs "paralyzed the respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory arrest and death within minutes."
The victims of these alleged crimes were aged 25-94.
Cover-up attempts
Suspect allegedly attempted to hide killings
In five of the cases, the doctor is accused of attempting to cover up the murders by burning down his victims' apartments.
On July 8, 2024, he allegedly murdered two patients in a single day. After killing a 75-year-old man in the Kreuzberg district, he reportedly attempted to cover up his crime by setting fire to the apartment, but failed when the fire didn't catch.
Later, he allegedly murdered a 76-year-old woman in Neukolln district.
Charge escalation
Charges escalated from manslaughter to murder
The doctor's charges have escalated since his arrest in August.
He was initially detained on manslaughter charges concerning four deaths, but prosecutors subsequently reclassified the alleged killings as murder cases and added four more deaths to the accusations.
The updated indictment now includes 15 suspicious deaths and accuses him of committing such murders with "malice aforethought."
Case review
Investigators re-examine suspicious cases
Prosecutors are demanding a lifetime professional ban for the doctor, and have also called for him to be taken into preventive detention.
A special team of investigators has already identified 395 suspicious cases that need to be re-examined in the context of the charges against the physician.
Initial suspicion was confirmed and preliminary proceedings were started in 95 cases; another 75 are still being reviewed.
Exhumation efforts
Exhumations carried out in murder investigation
The investigation has also involved 12 exhumations, five of which are related to the victims named in the charges. Another five are set to be exhumed soon.
The case is similar to another trial in Germany, where a nurse is accused of murdering nine patients under similar circumstances by giving them large doses of sedatives or painkillers.