Berlin doctor sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of 15 patients
A 41-year-old doctor in Berlin has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 15 patients. Authorities fear additional victims and are investigating 76 further cases.
Berlin doctor sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of 15 patients
A Berlin court found a 41-year-old physician named Johannes M. guilty on Wednesday of killing 15 of his patients. The sentence is life imprisonment.
The murders took place between September 2021 and July 2024. Among the victims were twelve women and three men aged between 25 and 94 years. Although all were in critical health conditions, their deaths were not imminent.
As the prosecution set out, the doctor administered lethal drug combinations during house calls without the consent of those affected. In several cases, he also attempted to cover his tracks through arson.
In July 2024, shortly before his arrest, the convicted man killed two people in a single day: a 75-year-old man in his flat in central Berlin and a few hours later a 76-year-old woman in a neighbouring district. He was unable to complete the arson attack on the woman's house.
Throughout much of the roughly one-year trial, the defendant made no statement. Only in the past month did he confess in court to killing people. He claimed he had convinced himself he was doing the right thing and had freed the victims "from suffering and disability".
Investigators believe that the 15 proven murders could only be "the tip of the iceberg". They are currently examining 76 further deaths in connection with the same doctor. Should these suspicions be confirmed, it would be one of the most serious serial murder cases in German history.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)