A palliative care nurse in Germany has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering ten patients and attempting to kill 27 others in order to avoid caring for them during night shifts, prosecutors said.
According to a report by the BBC, the unnamed 44-year-old nurse was convicted by a court in Aachen, western Germany. The killings occurred between December 2023 and May 2024 at a hospital in Wuerselen, near the city of Aachen.
Prosecutors told the court that the nurse injected mostly elderly and terminally ill patients with excessive doses of morphine and midazolam, a powerful sedative, so that he would not have to attend to them throughout the night.
They said the nurse displayed “irritation and lack of empathy” toward patients who required intensive care, and accused him of acting like the “master of life and death.”
The court ruled that the nurse’s actions demonstrated a “particular severity of guilt,” a designation in German law that prevents eligibility for early release after 15 years.
Ongoing Investigation
Authorities said the nurse had worked at the Wuerselen hospital since 2020 and completed his nursing training in 2007. He was arrested in 2024 after medical staff and doctors grew suspicious about an unusual number of sudden patient deteriorations during his shifts.
Prosecutors confirmed that several bodies are being exhumed as part of an ongoing investigation to determine whether more patients were harmed. If additional evidence emerges, further charges could be filed against him.
The convicted nurse retains the right to appeal the verdict.
Background and Similar Cases
The case has drawn comparisons to one of Germany’s worst medical murder cases involving Niels Högel, a former nurse who was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for murdering 85 patients between 1999 and 2005 at two hospitals in northern Germany. Högel was found guilty of administering lethal doses of heart medication to patients in his care.
The latest conviction has once again raised alarm over oversight and accountability in healthcare institutions, particularly in palliative and intensive care wards where staff are often overworked and understaffed.