A 40-year-old German palliative care doctor has been charged with the murder of 15 patients, in a chilling case that has shocked the country. Prosecutors in Berlin allege the doctor administered a lethal cocktail of drugs to his victims, then attempted to cover up some of the killings by setting fires in their homes.
The unnamed doctor is accused of killing 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024, with prosecutors warning that the actual number of victims may be higher. Investigators are planning further exhumations to uncover additional potential cases.
According to prosecutors, the suspect used a combination of an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant, administered without the patients’ knowledge or consent. The muscle relaxant allegedly caused paralysis of the respiratory system, leading to death within minutes.
“He knowingly and deliberately caused the deaths of seriously ill people entrusted to his care,” Berlin’s public prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The victims ranged in age from 25 to 94 and were located across several German states where the doctor practiced.
The investigation has also revealed that the suspect allegedly attempted to destroy evidence by setting fire to the homes of some of his victims. In five separate cases, prosecutors say he deliberately started fires to obscure the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
One particularly disturbing incident occurred in July 2024, when the doctor is believed to have killed two patients in a single day: a 75-year-old man at his home in central Berlin and a 76-year-old woman in a nearby district just hours later. Prosecutors allege that he tried to set the woman’s home on fire but failed. Instead, he reportedly contacted a relative and pretended to be concerned about her welfare, claiming she was not answering the door.
Initially arrested in August 2024 on suspicion of killing four patients, the scope of the investigation has since widened considerably. Authorities have uncovered additional suspicious deaths through a review of medical records, autopsies, and forensic evidence.
The suspect has not confessed to the charges, and due to Germany’s strict privacy laws, his identity has not been released publicly. He remains in custody, and prosecutors have requested a “lifelong professional ban” along with “preventative detention” to ensure he does not pose a future threat.
The case has raised serious concerns about oversight in palliative care and has prompted calls for stricter monitoring of healthcare professionals working with vulnerable patients.
