Doctor in Germany given life sentence after being found guilty of murdering 15 patients over three years

A court in Berlin has sentenced a palliative care doctor in Germany to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of murdering 15 of his patients, in one of the country’s most shocking cases in recent years.

According to the court’s ruling, the 41-year-old doctor, identified only as Johannes M. in line with German privacy laws, killed 12 women and 3 men between September 2021 and July 2024.

Prosecutors said the victims were between 25 and 94 years old. Although they were suffering from serious illnesses, the court concluded that none of them was on the verge of death.

The investigation found that, during visits to patients’ homes, the doctor gave them a mixture of drugs with a lethal effect without their consent. In some cases, he is suspected of setting fire to the victims’ homes to cover up evidence of the crime.

One of the most serious cases, according to prosecutors, took place in July 2024, shortly before his arrest. That day, he is suspected of killing two patients: first a 75-year-old man in his apartment in central Berlin and, a few hours later, a 76-year-old woman in a neighboring district. After the second killing, he tried to set the victim’s house on fire, but failed.

For most of the trial, which lasted about a year, the doctor made no statement. Only last month did he admit to killing 12 patients, saying he believed he was ending their suffering.

“All along I thought this was the best solution for everyone,” he told the court, while also apologizing for the pain he had caused.

However, authorities suspect the number of victims may be much higher. Prosecutors are also investigating 76 other suspected cases that may be linked to the same doctor.

If those suspicions are confirmed, German media report that this could be one of the biggest serial murder cases in Germany’s history.

Relatives of the victims also testified during the trial. The mother of the youngest patient, a 25-year-old woman who died in 2021, said through tears that her daughter had never expressed a wish to die.

The son of a 72-year-old woman also said that his mother had planned to spend a holiday near the Baltic Sea with her sister. “My mother wanted to live,” he said.

In addition to the life sentence, the court ordered that the doctor remain in preventive detention even after completing his sentence, after he was deemed a continuing danger to society. He was also permanently banned from practicing medicine.