A German court has sentenced a 44-year-old palliative care nurse to life imprisonment for murdering 10 elderly patients and attempting to kill 27 others with lethal injections.
The court in Aachen, western Germany, ruled on Wednesday that the nurse committed the crimes between December 2023 and May 2024 while working night shifts at a hospital in Wuerselen, near Aachen.
The presiding judges also found that the offences carried a “particular severity of guilt,” effectively ruling out any possibility of parole after 15 years, which is normally an option under German law.
Lethal Injections to ‘Ease Workload’
Prosecutors told the court that the nurse injected patients with large doses of morphine and midazolam, a muscle relaxant, not out of mercy but to reduce his workload during night shifts.
They said the man, whose identity has not been publicly released in line with German privacy laws, suffered from a personality disorder, lacked empathy, and showed no remorse throughout the trial.
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“He saw himself as a master over life and death,” prosecutors said, adding that his actions were motivated by irritation rather than compassion.
Pattern of Neglect and Cruelty
The court heard that the victims were mostly elderly and in fragile health but did not require fatal doses of medication. The accused allegedly administered the injections with the intent to cause respiratory failure, killing 10 and nearly claiming the lives of 27 others.
He completed his nursing training in 2007 and had worked at several facilities before joining the Wuerselen hospital in 2020. He was arrested in summer 2024 after an internal investigation raised alarms over a pattern of sudden deaths.
Ongoing Investigations
Authorities said that several exhumations have been carried out to identify possible additional victims, suggesting that the true number of deaths may be higher. Prosecutors have not ruled out further trials.
Echoes of Past Cases
The case has drawn comparisons to that of Niels Hoegel, another German nurse convicted in 2019 for murdering 85 patients — the country’s most notorious medical serial killer.
In July 2025, a separate case emerged in Berlin involving another nurse accused of killing 15 palliative patients and setting fires to conceal evidence.
Systemic Reforms
The latest conviction has reignited debate about oversight in palliative care and hospital accountability in Germany. Authorities have pledged stricter monitoring of drug handling and reporting procedures in medical institutions.
