A German doctor accused of murdering 15 patients with lethal injections went on trial Monday in Berlin, with prosecutors alleging he exploited his medical position to become a serial killer targeting vulnerable patients under his care.
Johannes M., a 40-year-old palliative care specialist, stands accused of killing 12 women and three men aged between 25 and 94 during a three-year killing spree from September 2021 to July 2024 in the German capital.
Doctor exploited patient trust, prosecutors allege
Prosecutor Philipp Meyhoefer told Berlin’s state court that the accused doctor had “visited his patients under the pretext of providing medical care” while secretly planning their deaths.
“He acted with disregard for life and behaved as the master of life and death,” Meyhoefer said during Monday’s opening proceedings.
The medical professional allegedly organised home visits “with the intention of killing” and systematically exploited the trust his patients placed in him as their doctor.
Suspicious deaths trigger investigation
The case came to light when a co-worker raised concerns in July 2024 after noticing an unusual number of Johannes M.’s patients had died in house fires, according to German newspaper Die Zeit.
Police arrested the suspect in August, initially linking him to four deaths. However, extensive investigations have since uncovered multiple suspicious cases, leading to 15 murder charges filed in April.
Prosecutors are still investigating 96 additional cases, including the mysterious death of Johannes M.’s mother-in-law during a weekend visit to Poland in early 2024.
Lethal cocktail of drugs used in murders
According to the indictment, Johannes M. administered “an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant to his patients without their knowledge or consent.”
The muscle relaxant allegedly “paralysed the respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory arrest and death within minutes.”
In five cases, prosecutors claim the doctor set fire to victims’ apartments after administering the fatal injections to cover up his crimes.
Double murder on same day
Court documents reveal Johannes M. allegedly committed two murders on 8 July 2024. He first killed a 75-year-old man in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, then struck again hours later, murdering a 76-year-old woman in neighbouring Neukölln.
After starting a fire in the woman’s apartment that failed to spread, he allegedly contacted her relative claiming he was outside her flat and “nobody was answering the doorbell.”
Background in medical murder research
The suspect’s background includes training as a radiologist and general practitioner before specialising in palliative care. Remarkably, his 2013 doctoral thesis examined motives behind a series of Frankfurt killings, opening with the question: “Why do people kill?”
Prosecutors seek life sentence
With “no motive beyond killing,” prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for Johannes M. The trial is scheduled to continue through early 2026 with 35 hearings planned.
Latest in series of German medical murder cases
This case follows several high-profile medical murder trials in Germany:
- Niels Hoegel: Life sentence in 2019 for murdering 85 hospital patients, making him Germany’s most prolific modern serial killer
- 27-year-old nurse: Life sentence in 2023 for murdering two patients with unprescribed drugs
- Aachen nurse trial: Currently on trial for injecting 26 patients with sedatives/painkillers, causing nine deaths
German police revealed last week they’re investigating another doctor suspected of killing elderly patients in Pinneberg, near Hamburg.
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