A German doctor went on trial on Monday, accused of killing 15 patients with lethal injections and acting as “master of life and death” over those in his care.
The doctor named Johannes M. by the German media is accused of injecting 15 victims, aged between 25 and 94, with deadly cocktails of sedatives and, in some cases, setting fire to their homes in a bid to cover up his crimes.
The accused had “visited his patients under the pretext of providing medical care,” prosecutor Philipp Meyhoefer said at the opening of the trial at the state court in Berlin. Johannes M. had organised “home visits, already with the intention of killing” and exploited his patients’ trust in him as a doctor, Meyhoefer said.
He was arrested in August, with prosecutors initially linking him to four deaths.
A further 96 cases were still being investigated, a prosecution spokesman told AFP, including the death of Johannes M.’s mother-in-law. In 5 cases, Johannes M. allegedly set fire to the victims’ apartments after administering the injections.
