A German palliative care doctor received a life sentence on Wednesday for murdering 15 patients with lethal doses of sedatives, while authorities continue investigating dozens more possible victims. The 41-year-old was convicted in Berlin for killing 12 women and three men during home visits from September 2021 to July 2024. However, presiding judge Sylvia Busch indicated that the crimes for which he was convicted may only represent a fraction of his total offenses.
Prosecutors revealed that he is suspected of having murdered over 70 additional individuals. Court records identify him only as Johannes M., as he remains partially unnamed in the legal documents. Busch described him as a “serial killer” amidst an “unfathomable” and “extraordinary” case. Recognizing the severity of his crimes, the court sentenced him to the maximum penalty, making it extremely unlikely for him to ever be released. He was also permanently barred from practicing medicine.
The court determined that his murders were driven by a desire for power rather than compassion or misguided beliefs about assisted dying. Prosecutors characterized him as having “a lust for murder,” asserting the motivation was purely for the act itself. The victims, all under his care at the time, ranged in age from 25 to 94. The court found that he intentionally administered anesthetics and muscle relaxants that paralyzed respiratory muscles, resulting in respiratory arrest and death within minutes. In at least five cases, he reportedly set fires in victims’ apartments to conceal his crimes.
Johannes M. admitted in court on Monday that he had “killed people” and expressed remorse, saying, “I despair at myself.” He further stated that he is only now beginning to grasp the full extent of the suffering he caused, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
On one notable day, he killed two patients. On July 8, 2024, he murdered a 75-year-old man at his home in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood, followed by the killing of a 76-year-old woman in nearby Neukoelln hours later. The attempt to burn the crime scenes failed because the fires did not catch. Suspicions about Johannes M.’s activities emerged from care services, prompting an investigation that led to his arrest in August 2024. Initially, four cases were scrutinized, but the number of suspicious deaths continued to grow as the investigation expanded.
This case is reminiscent of the story of Niels Högel, a German nurse sentenced to life in 2019 for murdering 85 patients. Another similar case involved a palliative care nurse who was sentenced to life in November for killing 10 patients and attempting to murder 27 others with lethal injections.
