A doctor has been sentenced by a Berlin court to life behind bars on charges of murdering 15 of his patients who were under palliative care, and setting fire to their homes to try to conceal the crimes, reports ABC News.
The 41-year-old doctor, who has only been identified as Johannes M in line with Germany’s privacy rules, went on trial nearly a year ago at a Berlin state court.
Part of an end-of-life care team at a nursing service, he was initially suspected of the deaths of four patients. Prosecutors eventually accused him of the deaths of 15 people between September 2021 and July 2024.
The court found he had administered a lethal mixture of various medications to 12 women and three men, according to German news agency dpa.
Murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison in Germany. A ruling of particularly severe guilt – which prosecutors had sought – would mean he wouldn’t be eligible for release.
The ruling also aligned with the prosecutors’ request for a finding of serious guilt and a call for him to face a lifetime ban from practicing medicine.
After months of silence, the doctor confessed last month to killing a dozen seriously ill patients during home visits, dpa reported. He apologised to the bereaved families, claiming he had convinced himself he was doing the right thing and sparing the patients suffering and illness.
The doctor allegedly administered an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxer to the patients without their knowledge or consent, with the cocktail then paralysing the respiratory muscles. Respiratory arrest and death followed within minutes, prosecutors said.
The vicitms were aged from 25 to 94. Most died in their own homes.
A special investigation team of police and prosecutors initially investigated 395 cases. In 95, initial suspicion was confirmed and preliminary proceedings began. In five cases, the initial suspicion wasn’t substantiated.
The public prosecutor’s office has said it is still investigating 76 other cases and expects another indictment this year.
In 2019, a German nurse who murdered 87 patients by deliberately bringing about cardiac arrests was given a life sentence.
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German police investigate doctors for patient deaths
German palliative doctor charged with 15 counts of murder