A German doctor has been charged with murder in connection with the deaths of 15 patients who were receiving end of life care.
The Berlin man is also accused of attempting to cover up the evidence by starting fires in the patients’ homes.
The doctor – a 40-year-old man whose name has not been released, in line with privacy rules in Germany – was part of a nursing service's end-of-life care team.
He was initially suspected in the deaths of four palliative care patients.
However, the number of suspected victims has crept much higher since last summer.
Investigators now say they have found evidence linking the doctor to the deaths of 15 people between September 22, 2021, and July 24, 2024.
The alleged victims' ages ranged from 25 to 94 years old. The majority of them died in their own homes, prosecutors said.
The doctor is accused of administering both an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxer to the patients without their knowledge or consent.
The drug cocktail then allegedly paralysed the patients’ respiratory muscles. Respiratory arrest (where breathing stops) and death followed within minutes, prosecutors said.
The doctor has been in custody since August 6, 2024. Prosecutors said on Wednesday that he has not yet responded to the case against him.
The charges were filed to the Berlin state court, which will now have to decide whether to bring the case to trial and if so, when to do so.
Murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Prosecutors said they aim to ask the court to establish that the suspect bears particularly severe guilt, meaning that he will would not be eligible for release after 15 years, as is usually the case in Germany.
They also want the doctor to be banned from his profession for life, they said.
