A doctor in Berlin has been charged with murder over the deaths of 15 patients under palliative care, prosecutors said Wednesday. He is also accused of trying to cover up the evidence by starting fires in their homes.

The doctor in Germany was part of a nursing service’s end-of-life care team and was initially suspected in the deaths of four patients. That number has steadily gone up since last summer, and investigators now say they have found evidence linking him to the deaths of 15 people between September 22, 2021, and July 24 last year. The ages of the victims range from 25 to 94. Most died in their own homes.

He allegedly administered an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxer to the patients without their knowledge or consent.

The drug cocktail then allegedly paralysed the respiratory muscles. Respiratory arrest and death followed within minutes, prosecutors said.

The doctor — a 40-year-old man whose name has not been released, in line with German privacy rules — has been in custody since August 6.

Prosecutors said on Wednesday that he has not yet responded to the case against him.

The charges were filed with the Berlin state court, which will now decide whether to bring the case to trial and, if so, when.

Murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Prosecutors said they aim to ask the court to establish that the suspect bears particularly severe guilt, meaning that he would not be eligible for release after 15 years, as is usually the case in Germany.

They also want him to be banned from his profession for life.