Trusted Doctor with 'Lust for Murder' Accused of Killing 15 Patients and Setting Fires to Hide the Evidence: Prosecutors

A doctor in Berlin is accused of killing 15 of his patients — and then setting their homes on fire to hide the evidence. 

The Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged a 40-year-old doctor who worked on a palliative care team, for 15 counts of murder with malice. The doctor’s name is being withheld due to German privacy laws.

Authorities are seeking a conviction for the doctor and a lifelong ban from the profession, according to a news release from the prosecutor’s office. 

The 40-year-old doctor is accused of killing 15 patients under his care between September 2021 and July 2024, according to a statement from the Berlin prosecutor’s office. He is alleged to have subsequently set fires to their home in an attempt to cover his tracks. 

To commit the killings, the doctor allegedly administered an anesthetic inducer and a muscle relaxant to his patients without their knowledge or consent, according to prosecutors. The combination paralyzed his patients’ respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory arrest and death within minutes. 

Prosecutors previously said in a statement that the doctor allegedly had no motive for killing people beyond simply wanting to kill. They said his actions showed he had a “lust for murder.”

The victims’ ranged from 25 to 95 years old and most died in their home.

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The doctor has been in pretrial detention since August 2024, according to the Berlin prosecutor’s office, and has not yet entered a plea deal.

In the course of the investigation for these killings, 12 exhumations have been carried out, five which are related to the victims of this case. Another five are planned to take place soon.