Berlin court sentences palliative care doctor to life imprisonment for 15 patient murders
A 41-year-old doctor was sentenced for killing 15 patients; prosecutors are investigating 76 additional cases.
Berlin court sentences palliative care doctor to life imprisonment for 15 patient murders
A Berlin court has sentenced 41-year-old palliative care doctor Johannes M. to life imprisonment for the murder of 15 patients. The sentence also includes a lifetime ban from practising as a doctor and an order for subsequent preventive detention due to the particular gravity of the offence.
The victims — twelve women and three men aged between 25 and 94 — were killed between September 2021 and July 2024. According to the prosecution's account, all suffered from serious illnesses but were not in an immediately life-threatening phase. The defendant is said to have administered fatal drug combinations during home visits without obtaining the patients' consent. In several cases, he attempted to cover up the crimes through arson.
The trial lasted approximately one year. During most hearings, the doctor remained silent. Only last month did he confess to killing twelve severely ill patients. He claimed he believed he was sparing them "suffering and illness". "The whole time I thought it was the best thing for all of them," he told the court and asked for forgiveness for the suffering he had caused.
Berlin prosecutors believe the known deaths so far represent only the "tip of the iceberg". Currently, 76 additional cases connected to the doctor are under investigation. German media are reporting that if the additional murders are confirmed, it could be one of the largest serial crimes in German history.
Relatives of the victims described their despair in court. The mother of the youngest victim, a 25-year-old woman, broke down in tears: "She never said that she didn't want to live on." The son of a 72-year-old woman reported that his mother had planned a trip to the Baltic Sea with her sister. "My mother wanted to live on," he said.
Shortly before his arrest in July 2024, the doctor is said to have killed two patients in a single day: a 75-year-old man in Berlin-Mitte and a few hours later a 76-year-old woman in an adjacent district. In the woman's case, he unsuccessfully attempted to set her flat on fire.
Source: BBC
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)