The Berlin Public Prosecutor filed charges against a doctor for the murder of 15 patients on Wednesday. The authorities are investigating 75 other possible cases.
The now 40-year-old man worked in a palliative care team and has been in pre-trial detention since August 2024. He is suspected of killing three men and 12 women between September 2021 and July 2024. The victims' ages range between 25 and 94.
The doctor is accused of administering a narcotic agent followed by a lethal dose of a muscle relaxant. This led to the paralysis of the respiratory muscles of the victims, resulting in respiratory arrest and death.
In some cases, the doctor is suspected of having set fire to the victims' apartments to cover up the murders.
By bringing the charges before the Berlin Regional Court, the Prosecutor is seeking a conviction, a lifelong ban from practising medicine and a preventive detention.
There are 75 ongoing cases being investigated by the homicide division of the Berlin State Criminal Police Office and the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office.
A total of 395 cases have been examined by the German authorities. In 95 of the cases, initial suspicions were confirmed and preliminary proceedings were initiated. In five of the cases, the initial suspicions were not substantiated.
