A palliative care doctor in Berlin has been charged with the murder of 15 patients, accused of secretly administering fatal drug combinations out of what prosecutors described as a “lust for murder,” AFP has reported.
According to a statement released by Berlin’s prosecutor’s office on Wednesday, the 40-year-old suspect allegedly gave an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant to his patients without their knowledge or consent. The relaxant, which paralyzed respiratory muscles, led to the victims’ deaths within minutes.
Between September 2021 and July 2024, the doctor is accused of killing 12 women and three men, aged between 25 and 94. In some cases, he allegedly attempted to cover up the crimes by setting fires in the victims’ homes. On one occasion, two patients were reportedly killed on the same day.
Authorities say the doctor murdered a 75-year-old man in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district on the morning of July 8, 2024, then killed a 76-year-old woman just hours later in nearby Neukoelln. An attempted arson at the second crime scene failed to ignite, leading the suspect to call a relative and pretend to be concerned about her well-being.
The investigation has revealed disturbing patterns. In one case, the doctor reportedly called emergency services himself, falsely claiming to have initiated resuscitation efforts on a 56-year-old victim who later died in hospital.
Initially arrested in August 2024 under suspicion of manslaughter, the charges have since escalated significantly. By November, prosecutors upgraded the accusations to murder, citing the suspect’s lack of motive beyond the act of killing itself. They described his actions as calculated and fueled by a desire to take lives.
Prosecutors are now seeking a lifetime professional ban and preventative detention, citing the extreme danger the suspect poses.
A special investigative team has identified 395 cases for review. Of those, 95 have raised sufficient suspicion to warrant further legal action, with 75 more still under evaluation. Investigators have already exhumed 12 bodies, five of which belong to the officially recognized victims, and plan to conduct at least five additional exhumations.
The chilling case has drawn comparisons to another ongoing trial in Aachen, where a nurse is accused of killing nine patients by administering excessive doses of sedatives and painkillers. That suspect allegedly sought to reduce workload during night shifts and claimed control over life and death.
As the investigation in Berlin deepens, the case has shocked Germany and reignited debate about oversight in palliative and home healthcare.
