A German court on Wednesday sentenced a 44-year-old palliative care nurse to life imprisonment for the murder of 10 patients and the attempted murder of 27 others in what prosecutors described as an attempt to reduce his workload.
The Aachen Regional Court found the defendant guilty of administering lethal injections to mostly elderly patients at a hospital in Wuerselen, near Aachen, between December 2023 and May 2024.
The court ruled that the crimes demonstrated a particular severity of guilt, a designation that prevents the convict from seeking parole after 15 years, which is typically possible under German law.
According to prosecutors, the former nurse, whose name was withheld under German privacy rules, saw himself as a master of life and death and showed no remorse during his trial, which began in March.
They alleged that he deliberately injected his victims with high doses of sedatives and painkillers including morphine and midazolam, a muscle relaxant sometimes used in executions to avoid caring for patients who required intensive attention during night shifts.
Investigators said the convict suffered from a personality disorder and had no empathy or compassion” for the terminally ill patients under his care.
The court heard that he had completed his nursing training in 2007 and worked for various health institutions before joining the Wuerselen hospital in 2020. He was arrested in the summer of 2024 after suspicions arose over unusual patterns of patient deaths in his unit.
Prosecutors told AFP that authorities had conducted multiple exhumations to identify possible additional victims, and that the convict could face further trials as investigations continue.
The case has drawn comparisons to that of Niels Högel, a former nurse sentenced in 2019 for murdering 85 patients one of Germany’s most notorious serial killings.
In another similar case, prosecutors in Berlin are currently trying Johannes M., a 40-year-old palliative care specialist accused of killing 15 patients between 2021 and 2024,and allegedly setting fire to some victims’ homes to cover up his crimes.
Germany’s medical community has expressed shock over the recurring trend of healthcare-related murders, with experts calling for stricter psychological evaluations and workplace monitoring for medical personnel handling end-of-life care.
