Trial begins in Hannover: MHH doctor charged with murder of three patients

The three charged acts

According to the public prosecutor's office, the starting point of the investigations was the case of a 71-year-old patient with lung failure, whose treatment the doctor discontinued and whose death he is alleged to have caused through medication. According to the indictment, the patient had previously expressed that everything should be done to keep him alive. In addition, the 49-year-old is said to have attempted to kill another patient while working as an emergency doctor.

As early as April 2025, tips from employees of the MHH had set the investigations in motion. According to its own statements, the MHH subsequently initiated internal investigations and released the doctor from duty even before the start of the public prosecutor's investigations. After the indictment was filed, the hospital said it had completely severed ties with the accused due to the severity of the allegations.

Tips from hospital staff set investigations in motion

In March of this year, the MHH stated that it was taking the situation very seriously. "Für uns hat die Sorge für die Patientinnen und Patienten und deren medizinische Behandlung höchste Priorität", the university announced. The university had also filed a criminal complaint after internal investigations had yielded initial unconfirmed indications of a possible violation of the law.

The public prosecutor's office accuses the 49-year-old of having killed two patients by administering medication against their express will or against the express wish of relatives to continue treatment. Five years before the report, the doctor is also said to have initiated the dying process of a 20-year-old leukemia patient with the anesthetic propofol.

According to the Regional Court, the defendant is in pretrial detention. At the start of the proceedings, he denied the allegations. His defense attorney told NDR Niedersachsen that the doctor had not acted against the presumed or explicit will of the patient in any of the cases.

Defense sees palliative action

"In keinem Fall habe sich der Angeklagte über den mutmaßlichen oder expliziten Patientenwillen hinweggesetzt", said the defense attorney. In all cases, the defendant had not acted with the intention of killing, but had medically shielded the dying patients palliatively in order to spare them agonizing torment.

The main trial against the man at the Hannover Regional Court began on Friday at 9:00 a.m. This means that, after more than a year of investigations, there will be a public examination of the allegations that have caused a stir in the Hannover region and beyond the borders of Lower Saxony.

Open questions before the start of the trial

At the same time, the case raises fundamental questions about the treatment of seriously ill patients at the end of life. The public prosecutor's office sees the acts as intentional killings; the defense speaks of medically justified end-of-life accompaniment. In the coming days of the trial, the Hannover Regional Court will have to clarify which version of the events corresponds to the facts.

The outcome of the proceedings therefore remains open at the start. What is clear, however, is that the allegations have shaken trust in medical care at the end of life and that the proceedings are being followed with great attention both legally and socially.