A nurse who killed 10 patients and tried murdering 27 more with lethal injections to reduce his workload has been jailed for life.
German prosecutors accused the 44-year-old nurse, who has not been named, of playing ‘master of life and death’ over those in his care in a hospital in Wuerselen near Aachen, a city in western Germany.
The court found the nurse guilty of the offences committed between December 2023 and May 2024.
Prosecutors said he injected the mostly elderly patients with large doses of sedatives or painkillers, with the simple aim having less work to do 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.
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.
German prosecutors accused the 44-year-old nurse, who has not been named, of playing ‘master of life and death’ over those in his care
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 also said that exhumations have taken place to identify further victims and that the man may be put on trial again.
The court also determined that the offences carried a ‘particular severity of guilt’ which should bar him from early release after 15 years, normally an option in such 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.
Prosecutors said he injected the mostly elderly patients with large doses of sedatives or painkillers
Psychiatrists said he suffered from a ‘severe narcissistic disorder’.
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.