What began as a trusted role caring for the terminally ill has ended in one of Germany’s most disturbing medical crime cases, with investigators warning the true number of victims could be far higher.
A German court has sentenced a 41-year-old palliative care doctor to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of murdering 15 patients over a three-year period.
The doctor, identified only as Johannes M. under Germany’s privacy laws, was convicted by a court in Berlin of killing 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024.
Prosecutors say the victims ranged in age from 25 to 94 years old. Although all were seriously ill, the court heard that none were believed to be at immediate risk of dying.
According to investigators, the doctor administered fatal combinations of medication during home visits without the knowledge or consent of his patients.
To conceal the crimes, prosecutors said he set fires at several victims’ homes in an attempt to destroy evidence.
One of the most shocking incidents occurred in July 2024, shortly before his arrest, when prosecutors said he killed two patients in a single day.
The victims were a 75-year-old man at his home in central Berlin and, hours later, a 76-year-old woman in a neighbouring district.
Investigators alleged the doctor tried to set fire to the woman’s home after her death, but the attempt failed.
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For most of the year-long trial, Johannes M. remained silent.
However, last month he admitted to killing 12 of his patients, telling the court he had convinced himself he was sparing them from further suffering.
“Throughout it all, I thought this was the best thing for everyone,” he told the court, while apologising for the pain he had caused.
Despite the conviction, authorities believe the confirmed deaths may represent only a fraction of the doctor’s alleged crimes.
Prosecutors are currently investigating 76 additional suspected cases, raising the possibility that the case could become one of the worst serial murder investigations in modern German history if further charges are proven.
The court ordered that Johannes M. remain in preventive detention after completing his life sentence, reflecting concerns that he continues to pose a serious danger to society.
He was also permanently banned from practising medicine.
Throughout the trial, relatives of the victims spoke emotionally about the lives their loved ones had hoped to continue living.
The mother of the 25-year-old victim, the youngest among those killed, rejected the suggestion that her daughter wanted to die.
“She never said she didn’t want to live anymore,” she told the court through tears.
The son of a 72-year-old woman who died in 2024 said his mother had been making plans for a holiday to Germany’s Baltic Sea coast with her sister.
“My mother wanted to keep on living,” he said.
As investigators continue examining dozens of additional deaths, German authorities believe the full scale of the case may not yet be known, with the final number of alleged victims still under investigation.
