Berlin Doctor Suspected of Killing 8 Elderly Patients

German investigators suspect a Berlin doctor of killing eight elderly patients in his care and setting fire to several houses to cover up his crimes, prosecutors said Thursday.

The 40-year-old unnamed suspect, who worked in palliative care at a nursing service, was detained in August on suspicion of killing four women aged between 72 and 94 and starting a fire in their homes.

Prosecutors in Berlin said the suspect was linked to the deaths of four more men and women aged between 61 and 83.

In August, police said the man was being investigated for four counts of manslaughter, one count of arson and three counts of attempted arson.

Berlin prosecutors said they were now treating the alleged killings as murder cases.

“The defendant appears to have no motive for killing people other than killing himself,” they said, accusing him of “homicidal desire.”

In August, police said the man was suspected of killing four female patients receiving care at a Berlin nursing home between June 11 and July 24.

In one case, an 87-year-old woman was resuscitated by the arrival of emergency services but later died in hospital.

In the other case, it was claimed that the suspect started a fire, but the fire was extinguished.

“When he noticed this, he allegedly notified a relative of the woman, who claimed that she was standing outside her house and no one answered the doorbell,” police said. he said.

In four new cases spanning from June 2022 to April 2024, the suspect is accused of killing two men and two women in Berlin.

In one case, he is suspected of giving a 70-year-old female patient a drug cocktail in her apartment in Berlin’s Tempelhof district and then starting a fire to cover up his crime.

The fire brigade, which came to the scene upon the notice of the neighbors, prevented the flames from spreading to other parts of the building.

He is also accused of administering lethal drugs to two men, aged 70 and 83, and a 61-year-old woman.

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