A 40-year-old German doctor has been arrested yesterday, accused of murdering 15 of his patients with cocktails of sedatives and setting fires in many of their homes to cover his tracks.

According to the Guardian, prosecutors have charged him with “15 counts of intentional homicide” and are seeking life imprisonment, a sentence that in Germany is usually equivalent to 15 years in prison. However, their aim is for the court to recognise “particularly serious guilt”, which could lead to preventive detention even after the sentence has been served, as well as a lifetime ban on practising medicine.

At the start of the hearing, prosecutor Philip Mayhofer said the defendant scheduled home visits with the intention of killing his patients “without their knowledge or consent” using “a lethal cocktail of drugs“. As he noted, he “acted with a disregard for life…”. Two of the murders are estimated to have been committed on the same day, in 2024.

Authorities continue to investigate dozens more suspicious homicides that may be linked to him. The defendant was arrested last August.

The doctor worked for a mobile nursing care service that provided palliative home care to terminally ill patients. His alleged victims – 12 women and 3 men aged 25 to 94 – died between September 2021 and July 2024. Although all were critically ill, none were expected to end up immediately.

Johannes M. refused to speak in court at the start of the trial, as well as to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. His motive remains unclear.

The trial is expected to last at least until the end of January 2026 and, according to the DPA news agency, around 150 people are expected to be called as witnesses.