German Doctor Goes on Trial For 15 Murders

A German doctor went on trial on Monday, facing allegations of killing 15 patients with fatal injections and acting as a “master of life and death” for those he treated.

The 40-year-old palliative care physician, identified by German media as Johannes M., is accused of killing 12 females and three males between September 2021 and July 2024 while employed in Berlin. The doctor supposedly administered lethal combinations of sedatives to patients aged 25 to 94 and, in some instances, set fire to their residences to conceal his crimes.

According to prosecutor Philipp Meyhoefer, the defendant had “visited his patients under the guise of providing medical assistance.”

Johannes M. was said to have arranged “home visits, premeditated with the intention of murder,” taking advantage of his patients’ trust in his role as a physician, Meyhoefer said.

“He acted with a complete disregard for life… and conducted himself as the master of life and death.”

A colleague first raised concerns about Johannes M. last July after noticing an unusual number of his patients had died in fires, as reported by Die Zeit newspaper. He was taken into custody in August, with prosecutors linking him to four fatalities at the outset.

However, further inquiries revealed numerous other questionable cases, leading prosecutors to file 15 charges of murder against Johannes M. in April. An additional 96 cases remain under investigation, according to a prosecution representative, including the death of Johannes M.’s mother-in-law.

She had been battling cancer and died under mysterious circumstances the same weekend that Johannes M. and his spouse visited her in Poland in early 2024, according to media accounts.

Reports suggest that the suspect initially trained as a radiologist and general practitioner before specialising in palliative care.

Prosecutors say that he had “no motive other than killing” and are pursuing a life sentence.

This case echoes that of infamous German nurse Niels Hoegel, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for murdering 85 patients.

Hoegel, recognised as modern Germany’s most prolific serial killer, ended the lives of hospital patients with lethal injections from 2000 to 2005 before he was ultimately apprehended in the act.

Just last week, German authorities announced they are looking into another doctor suspected of killing several predominantly elderly patients.