Berlin court sentences a doctor to life for murdering 15 patients under palliative care

The defendant covering his face in the court during a trial against an online predator network of men accused of using chat groups to share tips on how to drug and rape women, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

BERLIN — A Berlin court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a German doctor to life in prison on charges of murdering 15 of his patients who were under palliative care, in a case involving allegations he torched the homes of victims to try to cover up the crimes.

The 41-year-old doctor, who has only been identified as Johannes M. in line with Germany’s privacy rules, went on trial nearly a year ago at a Berlin state court.

Part of an end-of-life care team at a nursing service in Berlin, he was initially suspected of the deaths of four patients. Prosecutors eventually accused him of the deaths of 15 people between September 2021 and July 2024.

The Berlin court found the physician administered a lethal mixture of various medications to 12 women and three men, German news agency dpa reported.

Murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison in Germany. A ruling of particularly severe guilt — which prosecutors had sought — would mean he wouldn’t be eligible for release.

The ruling also aligned with the prosecutors’ request for a finding of serious guilt and a call for him to face a lifetime ban from practicing medicine.

After months of silence, the doctor confessed last month to killing a dozen seriously ill patients during home visits, dpa reported. He claimed he had convinced himself he was doing the right thing and sparing patients suffering and illness.

At the close of the trial, he apologized again to the bereaved families, the dpa report said.

The doctor allegedly administered an anesthetic and a muscle relaxer to the patients without their knowledge or consent. The drug cocktail then allegedly paralyzed the respiratory muscles. Respiratory arrest and death followed within minutes, prosecutors said.

The victims’ ages ranged from 25 to 94. Most died in their own homes. The suspect was taken into custody in August 2024, and the trial ran from last July through the end of January this year.

A special investigation team of police and prosecutors initially investigated 395 cases. In 95, initial suspicion was confirmed and preliminary proceedings began. In five cases, the initial suspicion wasn’t substantiated.

The public prosecutor’s office has said it is still investigating 76 other cases and expects another indictment this year.

In 2019, a German nurse who murdered 87 patients by deliberately bringing about cardiac arrests was given a life sentence.

The Associated Press