A German court on Wednesday ordered a life jail sentence to a palliative care nurse for the murder of 10 patients and attempted murder of 27 others with lethal injections.
The court in the western city of Aachen found the 44-year-old man guilty of the offenses committed between December 2023 and May 2024 in a hospital in Wuerselen, near Aachen.
The court also determined that the offenses carried a “particular severity of guilt” which should bar him from early release after 15 years, normally an option in such cases.
The man, who has not been publicly named, was accused by prosecutors of playing “master of life and death” over those in his care. His defense had demanded an acquittal at the trial which began in March.
Prosecutors said he injected the mostly elderly patients with large doses of sedatives or painkillers, with the simple aim of reducing his workload during night shifts.
They told the court the man suffered from a personality disorder, had never shown any compassion for the patients and had voiced no remorse during the trial.
The court was told that the nurse used morphine and midazolam, a muscle relaxant sometimes used for executions in the United States.
Lack of empathy
Prosecutors had accused him of working “without enthusiasm” and “with no motivation.”
When faced with patients who needed a higher level of care he showed only “irritation” and a lack of empathy.
He completed his training as a nursing professional in 2007 and then worked for various employers, including in Cologne.
Since 2020, he had been employed at the hospital in Wuerselen. He was arrested in the summer of 2024.
Prosecutors told AFP that exhumations have taken place to identify further victims and that the man may be put on trial again.
Similar cases
The case echoes that of nurse Niels Hoegel, who was handed a life sentence in 2019 for murdering 85 patients and who is believed to be modern Germany’s most prolific serial killer.
Hoegel killed patients with lethal injections between 2000 and 2005 before he was caught. Psychiatrists said he suffered from a “severe narcissistic disorder.”
More recently, in July, a 40-year-old palliative care specialist named by media as Johannes M. went on trial in Berlin accused of killing 15 patients with lethal injections between 2021 and 2024.
In at least five cases, he is suspected of setting fire to his victims’ homes in an attempt to cover up his crimes. Prosecutors and police said he had no motive beyond killing and that the suspect’s acts meet the legal definition of “lust for murder.”
In England, neonatal nurse Lucy Letby is serving a life sentence for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others. On July 1, three former senior leaders at the hospital where Letby worked were arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
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