- Doctor reportedly killed four patients
A 39-year-old palliative care doctor is in custody, as the public prosecutor's office and police announced. He is being investigated for suspected manslaughter and arson. The motive of the man is still unclear, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office said. It is being examined whether there could be other suspicious cases.
The doctor, according to the public prosecutor's office, has been employed in the palliative care team of a nursing service since the beginning of the year. In the course of this activity, he is said to have killed four female patients in their apartments between June 11 and July 24 in a manner still unknown. He then set fire to the apartments to cover up the crimes, it was said.
The alleged victims are four women aged between 72 and 94. In three cases, the man set a fire, and in one case, it remained at attempted arson.
Attempted Cover-up by Arson
In the case of an 87-year-old senior citizen, whom the suspect is said to have killed on June 11 in Berlin-Neukölln, the alerted rescue forces were initially able to revive the woman. She later died in the hospital.
On July 8, he is said to have killed a 76-year-old woman in her apartment in Neukölln. Here, his attempt to set a fire failed. The man then informed relatives of the woman and claimed that he was standing in front of the apartment and she was not reacting to his ringing.
Another victim in Neukölln is said to have been a 94-year-old patient. A 72-year-old woman is said to have been killed by the doctor on July 24 in the Berlin district of Plänterwald.
Berlin Nursing Service "Deeply Shocked"
The arrest of the man and his appearance before a judge took place on Tuesday. Since then, the 39-year-old has been in custody. The doctor had increasingly come into focus during the investigations into the fires, as the spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office said. Initially, an investigation was opened into arson resulting in death, and there was also a tip from the nursing service.
"We can tell you that the entire matter is incomprehensible to us and we are deeply shocked," the "Abendschau" of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) quoted the nursing service. The full clarification of the events now has the highest priority. "And we are cooperating as best as possible with the investigations of the public prosecutor's office."
The apartments of the victims were mostly in multi-family houses. Therefore, other residents were also affected by the fires, some of whom were injured.
The investigations into the background of the crimes are still in their early stages, according to the public prosecutor's office. So far, no valuable items are said to be missing from the apartments of the victims, the spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office said. The series of fires speaks against a killing on request. The exact cause of death also still has to be investigated, the spokesperson said.
Repeated Murder Cases in Care
In the past, other cases of murdered patients have made headlines. At the end of April, a former heart specialist from the Charité was sentenced to four years in prison in Berlin because, in the view of the regional court, he had killed two severely ill patients on the cardiological intensive care unit in 2021 and 2022 with overdosed medication. The verdict is not yet final. Both the doctor and the public prosecutor's office have lodged an appeal.
In Bremen, a nursing home caregiver was sentenced to life imprisonment in April for murder and attempted murder. The Bremen Regional Court found that he sought recognition through his actions. The verdict is not yet final. The prosecution suspects he may have committed further crimes.
In Munich, a nurse was sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2023 for two counts of murder and six attempted murders. The 27-year-old admitted in court to killing two patients aged 80 and 89, and attempting to kill three more. His motive, he stated, was to have peace and quiet.
The most notorious case is likely that of former nurse Niels Högel. The Oldenburg Regional Court sentenced him in June 2019 to life imprisonment for 85 murders, and also declared the unusual severity of his guilt, effectively ruling out early release after 15 years. Known as the "Angel of Death," Högel was charged with 100 murders, allegedly administering deadly medication to his victims at will.
The four victims in this tragic situation were all women, with ages ranging from 72 to 94. The nursing service, deeply shocked by the events, stated that the full clarification of the situation is their highest priority.
During his time with the palliative care team, it is alleged that the doctor killed four women in their apartments, and then attempted to cover up these crimes by setting fires.
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