"Elderly Female Patient Murdered After Visiting with 'I Won't Hurt You'... German Doctor Urgently Arrested"

Physician in Charge of Palliative Care at Nursing Facility
Series of Crimes Committed Over One Month Starting June

Stock photo unrelated to the article content. [Image source=Getty Images Bank]

A German doctor has been arrested on charges of killing four patients over two months and attempting to destroy evidence by setting fires.

According to foreign media including the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) on the 7th (local time), the Berlin prosecutor's office arrested the 39-year-old doctor the day before on charges of murder and arson and is currently investigating.

According to the prosecution, the suspect, who worked as a palliative care physician at a nursing facility, is accused of killing four female patients aged between 72 and 94 and setting fire to the victims' homes between June 11 and the 24th of last month.

On the 8th of last month, the suspect set fire to the home of a 76-year-old patient in Neuk?lln, Berlin, but the fire went out on its own. Upon learning of this, the suspect lied to the victim's relatives by informing them of the fire and ringing the doorbell, but claimed there was no response.

Palliative care physicians visit the homes of seriously ill patients to alleviate pain and care for their families. German prosecutors stated that they are still investigating the specific methods the suspect used to kill the patients.

Most of the victims' residences were multi-family homes, causing the fire to spread to neighboring houses and injuring residents. Local police are known to have suspected arson and conducted investigations immediately after the first incident.