Berlin court sentences palliative care doctor to life for murdering 15 patients, orders preventive detention

The crimes

Between September 2021 and July 2024, the doctor administered lethal drug mixtures to 12 women and 3 men under his palliative care. The victims ranged in age from 25 to 94. All were seriously ill, but the court determined none were in an immediately dying state. The doctor, identified as Johannes M., worked at a Berlin palliative care center from April 2021 to September 2022 and later at a palliative care service starting in January 2024. He later described developing "dangerous feelings of control and omnipotence, coupled with emotional distance," and said that after each murder he thought it must stop, only to reach for the syringe again. He also admitted to setting fire to some victims' homes on five occasions to cover up the murders.

Investigation and arrest

The case came to light after a cluster of four suspicious deaths between 11 June and 24 July 2024, including two on the same day. Tips from the home care service where he worked raised suspicion. He was arrested in early August 2024 on suspicion of four murders. A special homicide squad from the Berlin Criminal Investigation Department reviewed hundreds of patient files, and in April 2025 prosecutors filed charges in 15 cases.

Trial and confession

After months of silence, the 41-year-old unexpectedly confessed at the end of June 2026 to 12 of the 15 charges. He told the court he had long struggled with his conscience and had convinced himself he was acting in the patients' interest.

I had convinced myself that I was acting in the patients' interest and saving them from severe suffering.

He apologized for the "immense suffering" he had caused the victims' families. The presiding judge, Sylvia Busch, rejected any notion of mercy killing.

Those patients wanted to live. They trusted the doctor, who alone decided over their death.

She described him as a serial killer and noted suspicions of further victims.

Sentence and ongoing cases

On 8 July 2026, the Berlin court sentenced him to life imprisonment, with a finding of particularly severe guilt. The court also imposed a lifetime ban from the medical profession and ordered subsequent preventive detention, an exceptional measure that can prevent release even after the standard 15-year minimum for life sentences in Germany. The prosecution is investigating 76 additional cases and expects to file another indictment this year. In his final statement, the doctor said:

I will make a statement much earlier in the next proceedings.

The case could become one of the largest serial murder investigations in German history.