A 41-year-old palliative care doctor in Germany has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering 15 of his patients. The Berlin court identified the man, who is subject to German privacy laws, as Johannes M.
The convictions cover a series of killings involving 12 women and three men that occurred between September 2021 and July 2024.
Prosecutors established that the victims, ranging in age from 25 to 94, were critically ill but not facing imminent death. During home visits, the doctor reportedly administered a lethal combination of medications without obtaining the consent of his patients.
Investigators also noted that on several occasions, the doctor attempted to set fires at the scenes to conceal his actions.
In July 2024, shortly before his arrest, he allegedly killed a 75-year-old man at his home in central Berlin and a 76-year-old woman in a nearby district just hours later, though his attempt to set fire to the woman's home was unsuccessful.
Following a year-long trial, the doctor confessed last month to killing twelve of his patients, claiming he had convinced himself he was sparing them from further suffering and infirmity.
He stated, "Throughout it all, I thought this was the best thing for everyone," and offered an apology for the pain he caused.
During the proceedings, relatives of the deceased expressed their disbelief and grief.
The mother of the youngest victim, a 25-year-old who died in 2021, testified that her daughter had never expressed a desire to stop living, while the son of a 72-year-old victim noted that his mother had active plans to travel before her death.
Authorities suspect the scale of these crimes may be much larger. Prosecutors are currently investigating 76 additional cases. If these further incidents are proven, German media reports suggest it would represent one of the most extensive serial murder cases in the country's history.
The court ruled that the doctor’s guilt was particularly severe, ordering him to be placed in preventive detention after his prison sentence and imposing a lifetime ban on his medical practice.
Earlier in the trial, relatives of the victims told the court they still couldn't believe it.
The son of a 72-year-old woman who died in 2024, said his mother had had plans to go to the Baltic Sea with her sister. "My mother wanted to keep on living," he said.
