German Palliative Care Doctor Sentenced to Life for Killing 15 Patients, 76 More Cases Under Investigation
A German palliative care doctor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering 15 of his patients, with prosecutors investigating 76 additional suspicious deaths that could make this one of the largest serial murder cases in Germany's history.
The 41-year-old doctor, identified only as Johannes M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was convicted by a Berlin court for killing 12 women and 3 men between September 2021 and July 2024. The victims ranged in age from 25 to 94, and the court heard that while they were critically ill, their deaths were not imminent.
Prosecutors stated that during home visits, the doctor administered lethal combinations of medicines without patient consent and, on several occasions, set fires to cover his tracks. In July 2024, hours before his arrest, he killed a 75-year-old man in central Berlin and a 76-year-old woman in a neighbouring district, attempting to set fire to her house but failing.
After remaining silent for much of the trial, the doctor confessed last month to having killed 12 severely ill patients, telling the court he believed he was doing the right thing by sparing them 'suffering and infirmity.' He apologised for the suffering caused and said he would cooperate with further proceedings.
The court ruled his guilt was particularly serious, ordering preventive detention after his prison sentence and a lifetime ban from practising medicine. Relatives of victims expressed disbelief and grief. The mother of the youngest victim, a 25-year-old woman, tearfully testified that her daughter never said she wanted to die. The son of a 72-year-old woman said his mother had planned a trip to the Baltic Sea and 'wanted to keep on living.'
