Berlin [Germany], July 9: A German palliative care doctor described as a "serial killer" has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 15 patients, amid warnings that the true number of his victims could be significantly higher.
The Berlin Regional Court on Wednesday handed the 41-year-old man the maximum penalty, including a lifetime ban on practicing medicine. The court found that, between 2021 and 2024, the doctor administered a lethal mixture of various medicines to 12 women and three men between the ages of 25 and 94. All were seriously ill, but their deaths were not imminent.
"The patients placed themselves in his hands - and he was the one who held the power over life and death," said presiding judge Sylvia Busch in her reasoning for the verdict.
"The patients wanted to live," Busch added. "These acts have nothing to do with palliative care or euthanasia." The doctor has been in pre-trial detention since August 2024. In April 2025, the public prosecutor's office brought charges in 15 cases against him.
Source: Qatar Tribune