German nurse accused of purposefully killing elderly patients receives life sentence

A palliative care nurse in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of the murder of 10 patients and the attempted murder of 27 others.

Prosecutors alleged that the man, who has not been publicly named, injected his mostly elderly patients with painkillers or sedatives in an effort to ease his workload during shifts overnight, as reported by German media outlets.

The offences were committed between December 2023 and May 2024 in a hospital in Wuerselen, in western Germany.

Prosecutors told a court in Aachen that he showed "irritation" and a lack of empathy to patients who required a higher level of care in the palliative care wing, and accused him of playing "master of life and death". The court heard that he suffers from a personality disorder and was displaying narcissistic traits.

The court was told that the 44-year-old injected patients with large doses of morphine and midazolam, a type of sedative, in an effort to reduce his workload during night shifts.

The defendant himself stated in his final words that he had never intended to harm anyone. He said he believed he was doing something good for the patients.

“The patients were supposed to sleep, since sleep is, after all, the best medicine,” said the 44-year-old. He added that he never thought the anaesthetic he administered could be so dangerous for the severely weakened patients.

When issuing the life sentence this week, the court said that the man's crimes carried a "particular severity of guilt" which should bar him from early release after 15 years.

Investigators are reported to be looking into several other suspicious cases during his career. Prosecutors have told reporters that exhumations are taking place to identify further potential victims, which could see the man put on trial again.

By Nazrin Sadigova