A 40-year-old Berlin doctor caring for people in their last days stands accused of murdering more than a dozen of his patients with a toxic mix of sedatives and, in some cases, setting their houses on fire to cover up his crimes. The suspicious deaths occurred between September 2021 and July 2024.
The man was arrested a year ago on charges of murdering four patients, but the Berlin Prosecutor’s Office’s charging documents filed Wednesday now have the count at 15, ranging in age from 25 to 94.
To commit the murders, the doctor allegedly “administered an anesthetic inducer and then a muscle relaxant” without the patients’ consent and “without medical indication,” the prosecutor’s office said. The combination of drugs paralyzed the respiratory systems of victims, leading to death.
All patients used the same nursing service—the one that employed the doctor.
The current charges aren’t even the entire story: Berlin police and prosecutors have reviewed 395 cases and found at least 95 suspicious. 75 more investigations are ongoing.
Due to the severity of the crimes, the prosecutor is pursuing a “lifelong professional ban and subsequent preventive detention” for the accused. The man remains in custody awaiting trial.
