Doctor accused of murdering four elderly patients before setting fire to their homes to cover tracks
7 August 2024, 18:20
A German doctor has allegedly murdered four patients and setting fire to their homes in order to cover his tracks, it has been reported.
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The unnamed 39-year-old, who reportedly worked in the palliative care team of a Berlin nursing service, was arrested on Tuesday on charges of manslaughter and arson, according to a joint statement by the police and local prosecutor's office.
The doctor is accused of killing four elderly women, aged 72-94, who were under the care of the nursing service between June 11 and July 24.
German authorities are reportedly unsure how exactly the doctor killed the patients but the investigation into the string of deaths remains ongoing.
The doctor - whose identity has been withheld as part of Germany's privacy rules - remains in police custody.
Emergency services responded to a fire in the Neukoelln area of Berlin around 12:30 pm and initially managed to resuscitate an 87-year-old woman, but she later died in the hospital.
Three other residents in the block of flats sustained minor injuries in the fire.
Nearly a month later, on July 8, the second alleged manslaughter case occurred just a few miles away in Michael-Bohnen-Ring, also in the Neukoelln area.
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Prosecutors believe the doctor killed a 76-year-old woman also in Neukoelln and attempted to set a fire that extinguished itself.
He then tried to cover up the killing by calling a relative of the victim, claiming he was standing outside her apartment with no response to his ringing the doorbell.
On July 15, police suspect the alleged serial killer struck again when a 94-year-old woman died in her flat in the Plaenterwald district, with her kitchen set on fire, in the same Berlin district as the previous victim.
The fourth victim, aged 72, was killed, and her apartment was set on fire in the Plaenterwald district, adjacent to Neukoelln, around noon on July 24.
A neighbor noticed the fire in the woman's ground-floor flat and alerted the local fire service at 1:15 pm, who found her dead.
On June 11, firefighters were able to rescue one of the victims, an 87-year-old woman, according to the Associated Press (AP). However, she later died at a hospital.
On July 8, a 76-year-old woman was killed, followed by the killing of a 72-year-old woman on July 15. The last victim, a 94-year-old woman, was murdered on July 24.
The doctor is being held in custody on suspicion of manslaughter, one count of arson and three counts of attempted arson. A possible indictment is pending.
Investigators did not share the details of the man's arrest or a possible motive for the killings.
The investigation is ongoing.
