A doctor in charge of palliative care at home in Berlin is suspected of having killed eight patients, the prosecution announced Thursday, after the discovery of four new alleged victims. The prosecution notes in a press release that the suspect would have had no other motive than “the desire to kill”.
On August 6, the Berlin courts had already placed this man in pre-trial detention for the murder of four patients whose apartments he then set fire to to remove the evidence.
“The use of patient files and forensic examinations of deceased persons, including two after exhumation, led to suspicions of other murders committed by the accused,” write the public prosecutor’s office and the Berlin police in a press release.
The first known victim of this doctor, now 40 years old, now dates back to June 24, 2022: the defendant allegedly administered a mixture of different medications to a 70-year-old patient, then lit a fire to conceal his act.
On January 29, 2024, the defendant allegedly administered a lethal mixture of different medications without medical indication to a 70-year-old man, also in his apartment, with the aim of killing him. He is also suspected of having administered, on April 4, 2024, a lethal mixture of different medications without medical indication to a 61-year-old woman, in order to kill her at her home. Finally, on April 29, 2024, he allegedly killed an 83-year-old man in his room at a retirement home using a mixture of drugs.
The four alleged victims revealed in August were women aged 72 to 94, living in Neukölln and Treptow, two working-class neighborhoods in the German capital. They were allegedly killed between June 11 and July 24, 2024.
