Serial Killer Cases Expose Dark Truths: Medical Professionals Investigated Across Germany and Europe in Shocking Crimes

# True Crime Deep Dive: Serial Killers in 2025 - From Medical Murderers to Cold Case Justice

Join Detective Em Carter in this compelling episode exploring the latest developments in serial killer cases worldwide. From the shocking trial of German doctor Johannes M accused of killing 15 patients, to the death penalty affirmation for William Lewis Reece in Oklahoma, this episode offers expert analysis on how these chilling cases shape modern law enforcement.

Discover the psychological profiles behind medical serial killers, the slow wheels of justice in decades-old cases, and how digital forensics has revolutionized cold case investigations. Detective Carter examines institutional accountability in the Lucy Letby case aftermath, debunks viral social media theories, and provides insider perspective on how pattern recognition leads to capturing society's most dangerous predators.

Perfect for true crime enthusiasts, criminology students, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of justice, psychology, and investigative techniques. Learn how today's headlines connect to the evolution of criminal profiling and what these cases reveal about the ordinary settings where extraordinary crimes unfold.

#TrueCrime #SerialKillerCases #CriminalJustice #ForensicProfiling #ColdCaseInvestigation #2025CriminalCases

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listeners, Welcome back to another deep dive with me Detective M. Carter,
rookie cop, former criminology nerd, slightly overcaffeinated, cold case obsessive,
and your passionate guide through the jagged corridors of the
criminal mind. There's something about true crime that just grabs people.
Maybe it's the puzzle like quality, or the sense that's
somewhere out there someone is breaking every rule we take

(00:22):
for granted. Every time I lace up my boots and
pin on my badge, I'm reminded that the monsters of
legend aren't just in the stories. They're often right next door.
Today we're breaking down the latest developments in the world
of serial killers, the headlines from the courtrooms, the emerging cases,
the chilling echoes of the past that still shape police

(00:42):
work right now. And trust me, some of this is
as fresh as this morning's crime bulletin. Before we get
into the specifics, let's address something my instructors pounded into
me on day one. The serial killer is not a
cliche in a movie. He or she is disturbingly real
and often looks astonishingly norse. The Federal Bureau of Investigation

(01:02):
defines serial murder as a series of two or more
murders committed as separate events, usually but not always, by
a single offender acting alone. There always seems to be
debate about definitions, but what matters most for us is
the pattern, thermal off period, the repeating urge, and most hauntingly,

(01:22):
the ordinary settings where these crimes often unfold. Now let's
talk about the cases making waves in twenty twenty five.
We have to start with one of the most jaw
dropping cases moving through the courts in Germany. Right now,
if you thought the notion of a trusted physician turning
into a serial killer was just fiction, think again. A
German doctor, let's call him Johannes M to keep in

(01:45):
step with the privacy rules of European courts, has been
accused of killing at least fifteen patients. That's right, fifteen,
not in the chaotic anonymity of an understaffed hospital, but
in patient's own homes and even after death. He we
to a step further. In at least five cases, he
allegedly set fire to victim's apartments after giving them their

(02:06):
fatal injections. Let's pause and picture the scene on July
eighth last year, early in the morning in the bustling
Berlin district of Kreutzberg, Johannes M allegedly injects a seventy
five year old man in his own home. Hours later,
in Neutelen, barely a few subway stops away, an elderly
woman becomes victim number two. Her apartment is torched, but

(02:28):
the fire fizzles out. When it becomes clear the cover
up failed, Johannes M reportedly pretends to be the concerned visitor,
calling a relative and acting surprise that no one answers
the door bell. It's so practiced, so coldly premeditated, it
almost freezes your blood. If you're thinking this has echoes
of other infamous medical killers, you're not wrong. Germany's been

(02:51):
through this before. In twenty nineteen, nurse Neil's Hogel was
convicted of murdering eighty five patients with lethal injections, his
crimes going on detected for years thanks to the chaos
of a busy hospital. Just last year, a twenty seven
year old nurse was handed a life sentence for deliberately
poisoning two patients, and in March, another nurse, when on trial,

(03:11):
accused of injecting a staggering twenty six patients with deadly overdoses,
nine didn't survive. This string of high trust professions gone
monstrous has forced hospitals and authorities to overhaul internal oversight procedures. Now,
with Johannes M on trial and another Pinnenberg doctor under suspicion,
the profession is under a harsh spotlight once again. I

(03:35):
can tell you every time a case like this breaks,
rookie cops across the world get a pretty clear reminder
that evil does not wear a mask. It often wears
a white coat and smiles at you. And sometimes it
isn't just doctors. The recurring theme in these medical serial
killer cases, high opportunity, low suspicion, and victims who already

(03:55):
seemed vulnerable is exactly what we study in criminal profiling seminars.
The offender does not need to be cunning, only invisible
pinned layers of institutional trust. The case of Johannes M
is sharpening awareness not just for medical oversight, but for
how law enforcement coordinates with health authorities across borders. Now

(04:16):
jumping the Atlantic, let's talk about America's criminal justice system
and how it grapples with the aftermath of serial murder
Headlines just ten days ago confirmed the death penalty was
affirmed for William Lewis Reese in Oklahoma. If the name
rings a Belle, his case bridges decades and state lines.
Back in the summer of nineteen ninety seven, Reese committed

(04:37):
a horrifying spree. He kidnapped and raped two teenagers in Texas,
who miraculoubly escaped. He then murdered Kelly Cox, a twenty
year old, in a convenience store parking lot, and buried
her in a rice field. He confessed to the crime
almost two decades later, in twenty sixteen, after his arrest.
Just nine days after that terrible night, Tiffi Fanny Johnston,

(05:01):
nineteen years old, was abducted from a car wash, sexually assaulted,
and then murdered. In August that year, he killed Jessica
Kine after what he claimed was a minor car accident
at a Bennegan's. Three young women slain in as many months,
each case reflecting the brutality and opportunism that makes high
profile serial killers like Reese so dangerous. What stands out

(05:24):
to me as a cop in training and now out
on the street is the delayed justice. For years, these
cases went unsolved, families haunted by uncertainty. It was not
until twenty twenty one, after a Marathon's seventeen day jury trial,
that Reese was convicted for Johnston's first degree murder and
handed a death sentence in Texas. Two other courts gave

(05:45):
him three life sentences for the additional murders after belated confessions.
Critics have questioned the practice of offering possible benefits to
prisoners in exchange for confessions or information. Investigators sometimes have
to weigh the ethics of making deals with monsters to
get critical answers for families, a reality I have only
begun to appreciate since joining the force ourselves. Reese doesn't

(06:07):
have a scheduled execution date yet, and he could still
appeal up to the Supreme Court. That's justice, Grindy