Johannes M., a 40-year-old palliative care doctor beloved for his humor and dedication, faced trial in Berlin last Monday for allegedly murdering 15 of his patients.
Colleagues and patients’ families admired his patience, professionalism and willingness to help, unaware he could be one of Germany’s most notorious serial killers. The prosecution is investigating 96 additional cases, including the suspicious death of his wife’s mother, suggesting the true toll may be far higher.
Twelve years ago, Johannes M. wrote his doctoral dissertation on “Why do people kill?” referencing a psychiatrist’s claim that killing is part of human behavior’s spectrum. In hindsight, his work eerily foreshadowed his actions.
Arrested in August 2024, he is suspected of killing his mother-in-law, a cancer patient, during a weekend visit to Poland in early 2024 with his wife. Reports indicate her death resulted from an injection he administered. In Germany, the alleged murders occurred between September 2021 and July 2024, targeting elderly patients in critical condition, all residing in Berlin.
A May 2024 incident reported by Der Spiegel raised suspicions when Johannes M. called a supervising doctor from outside an 87-year-old patient’s home, reporting it was engulfed in flames shortly after his visit. When asked if he was okay, he replied, “Don’t worry, this has happened before.”
Emergency services kept the patient alive for hours but Johannes M. requested they stop, claiming it was her final wish. No immediate red flags were raised. In another case, he treated an 84-year-old patient in a medical facility who was days from discharge.
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Within 10 minutes of Johannes M.’s visit, the patient was dead. Similar to Niels Högel, a German nurse convicted in 2019 of killing 87 patients, Johannes M. allegedly used sedatives to impair breathing, causing cardiac arrest. In five cases, he set victims’ homes on fire and once killed a patient in front of her daughter.
Victims’ relatives described patients who chose life despite severe pain, relying on Johannes M. for relief. One relative of a 57-year-old victim said she was counting down to seeing her grandson start school. After a year-long break from patient contact in 2023, Johannes M. allegedly resumed killing at a frantic pace, with 12 murders in seven months in 2024.
Suspicions solidified when his supervising doctor reported four patient deaths linked to fires in June and July 2024, noting Johannes M.’s unnecessary visits to their homes. Nine days after her complaint, he was arrested at Berlin’s airport upon returning from vacation.
In his dissertation, Johannes M. wrote on page 37, “I wanted to focus more on the killing of elderly people. I thought the numbers would be much higher but that didn’t happen. As a result, my thesis’s original goal of studying murders in care-dependent populations wasn’t realized.” The chilling irony of his words now looms over his trial, as authorities uncover the extent of his alleged crimes.