GERMAN DOCTOR ON TRIAL FOR ALLEGEDLY MURDERING 15 PATIENTS WITH LETHAL INJECTIONS
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
A 40-year-old German palliative care doctor went on trial Monday in Berlin, accused of murdering 15 patients with lethal injections and setting fires to cover his tracks, in what prosecutors described as a chilling abuse of trust and power.
Identified by German media as Johannes M., the doctor is alleged to have killed 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024, during home visits he arranged under the guise of providing medical care. His victims ranged in age from 25 to 94.
Prosecutors say he administered fatal doses of anaesthetics and muscle relaxants without the victims’ knowledge or consent, leading to rapid respiratory arrest and death. In five cases, he allegedly set fire to their homes afterward in an attempt to destroy evidence.
“He acted with disregard for life… and behaved as the master of life and death,” said lead prosecutor Philipp Meyhoefer at the opening of the trial at the Berlin state court.
The crimes came to light after a colleague grew suspicious of the unusually high number of fire-related deaths among the doctor’s patients. Johannes M. was arrested in August 2024 and initially linked to four deaths, but further investigation revealed a far more disturbing pattern.
In April 2025, prosecutors formally charged him with 15 counts of murder. A further 96 suspicious deaths remain under investigation, including that of his mother-in-law, who died suddenly during a family visit to Poland.
Johannes M., who originally trained as a radiologist and general practitioner before specialising in palliative care, had submitted a doctoral thesis in 2013 exploring the psychology of killers. It reportedly opened with the question, “Why do people kill?”
According to prosecutors, he showed no apparent motive beyond the act of killing itself.
Among the detailed charges, one particularly harrowing day saw Johannes M. allegedly murder two patients within hours. On July 8, 2024, he reportedly killed a 75-year-old man in Kreuzberg in the morning and later that day murdered a 76-year-old woman in Neukoelln, where he also attempted to set her apartment on fire.
In another case, he allegedly pretended to resuscitate a 56-year-old victim to mislead bystanders, though the patient later died in hospital.
Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence, and 35 hearings are scheduled through early 2026.
The case has drawn comparisons to other high-profile medical murders in Germany, including nurse Niels Högel, convicted in 2019 for killing 85 patients, and several more recent cases involving healthcare professionals accused of deliberately ending patients’ lives.
Authorities last week announced a new investigation into another doctor in northern Germany suspected of killing multiple elderly patients.
As the trial unfolds, the spotlight remains on systemic safeguards within Germany’s healthcare system and the psychological profiling of medical personnel entrusted with end-of-life care.
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