Berlin Court to Rule on Palliative Care Doctor Accused of Killing 15 Patients

A Berlin court is set to deliver its verdict in the murder trial of a palliative care doctor accused of killing 15 seriously ill patients.

Prosecutors demanded the maximum penalty after a trial lasting almost a year, seeking life in prison, a finding of particular severity of guilt — roughly the German equivalent to a first-degree murder conviction in the US — preventive detention after the sentence and a lifetime ban from practicing medicine.

The 41-year-old German doctor is accused of killing 12 women and three men during home visits between September 2021 and July 2024. Prosecutors say he injected patients with a lethal mix of drugs without medical justification and without their knowledge or consent.

Several fires were allegedly set to cover up the killings. The doctor worked in outpatient palliative care in Berlin, where medical teams support seriously ill people by relieving pain and improving quality of life.

The alleged victims ranged in age from 25 to 94. All were seriously ill, but prosecutors say their deaths were not imminent. Relatives told the court some of the patients still had plans and had wanted to live.

The defendant, who has been in custody since August 2024, stayed silent for almost two years before admitting shortly before the end of the trial to 12 of the 15 killings.

Germany's Bundestag is set to debate a package of bills expanding digital investigation powers for police and prosecutors.

The Interior Ministry proposed giving authorities broader tools to analyze data automatically, including with artificial intelligence, as part of efforts to fight terrorism and serious crime.

The measures would also put some digital investigation powers on an explicit legal footing for the first time. The package includes rules on automated biometric matching, police data-analysis platforms and new powers for the police.

The chamber is also set to discuss further military support for Ukraine, as well as conduct a debate that the Bundestag parliament website labels as "250 years of the US — freedom, democracy and responsibility."

German companies face rising cybercrime

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Tach zesamm! Welcome to the DW newsroom in Bonn, on the banks of the Rhine River.

You join us as a Berlin court is expected to deliver its verdict in the case of a palliative care doctor accused of killing 15 seriously ill patients.

He is alleged to have administered lethal drug combinations during home visits between 2021 and 2024.

Also in Berlin, the German lower house of parliament is set to talk about expanding authorization for police to use digital tools to assist their investigations.

Stay with us for this and more of the stories that Germany is talking about today.