A Berlin, Germany-based palliative care doctor is suspected of killing at least 10 people, more than double the number initially assumed, the public prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

Prosecutors had at first identified four victims in the case, but later raised the number to eight.

The prosecution spokesman, Michael Petzold, said they now believe the 40-year-old man, who is in custody, is also responsible for the deaths of two severely ill women aged 25 and 57.

The doctor, who worked for a nursing service, was arrested in August and initially charged with four counts of manslaughter as well as arson, after allegedly trying to cover up his actions by starting fires in the patients’ flats.

Prosecutors subsequently examined the documents from other patients, while more bodies were exhumed for forensic examination.

The doctor is also being blamed for the deaths of six women aged between 61 and 94 as well as two men aged 70 and 83.

He is alleged to have administered a “mixture of various medications” to the victims in September 2021 and June 2024 out of a desire to kill.

Petzold said that the doctor has so far remained silent on the allegations.

A team of investigators has continued to look for any indications of further crimes.

Palliative care doctors support terminally ill patients to alleviate their pain.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, the affected patients were not in an acute terminal phase at the time of the acts.

(dpa/NAN)