Overview
- On Thursday, June 25, the 41-year-old defendant told the Landgericht Berlin he was largely confessing and admitted killing 12 of the 15 patients charged against him.
- Prosecutors allege he sedated severely ill patients, then injected a muscle relaxant to cause death, and that in some cases fires were set to conceal the acts after a supervisor reported multiple suspicious blazes.
- The doctor was arrested in early August 2024 and has been on trial since July 2025 with more than 200 witnesses heard; the court is now awaiting a psychiatric expert’s assessment that will affect findings of culpability and possible sentencing.
- Berlin prosecutors continue parallel investigations into roughly 76 additional suspected cases, including recent exhumations, and have not ruled out further charges.
- Families in the courtroom reacted emotionally as reporting shows victims ranged in age from about 25 to 94, many were not imminently dying, and bereaved relatives and their lawyers dispute the defendant’s stated motive of sparing suffering.