German nurse jailed for murder may face inquiry into 100 more deaths
A former nurse convicted of killing 10 patients in West Germany may be linked to more than 100 deaths, an official said.
Aachen chief prosecutor Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts told the BBC that “a number of suspicious cases related to this” were being investigated.
He warned that the cases represent preliminary suspicions and some may be dismissed after forensic examination.
In November last year, a district court in Aachen found the former palliative care nurse, whose name was not publicly disclosed, guilty of 10 murders and 27 attempted murders and sentenced her to life imprisonment.
The court heard that during the night shift at a hospital in Würselen, The man had given overdoses of sedatives and painkillers to seriously ill patients without medical justification..
Prosecutors said the drugs were sometimes administered repeatedly and the defendant was aware of the potentially fatal consequences. The judges concluded that the actions were motivated by personal discomfort and a desire to maintain order during night shifts.
The defendant denied the charges during the hearing in Aachen, stating that it was intended to help patients sleep and that he did not believe the drug posed a fatal risk, given their underlying disease.
But prosecutors told the court he was “irritating” and showed a lack of empathy for patients who needed a higher level of care and accused him of playing the role of “master of life and death”.
The crimes examined at the first trial occurred between December 2023 and May 2024 at the Rhein-Maas hospital in Würselen, where the nurse had been working since 2020.
Newly detected suspicious cases are largely related to previous periods.
As part of the expanded investigation, investigators ordered the exhumation of nearly 60 graves. Twenty-seven have already been carried out and approximately 30 more are pending.
Schlenkermann-Pitts said autopsy results in many cases were still excellent and would determine whether more charges would be brought.
“Of course they could still be shot down,” he warned.
Prosecutors in Cologne are also investigating deaths linked to hospitals where the nurse worked before being transferred to Würselen, 65 km (40 miles) away.
So far, two exhumations have been carried out, including the remains of a 94-year-old woman who died in 2018 and a 78-year-old patient who died in 2015. More exhumations were ordered.
Prosecutors in both Aachen and Cologne said preparations for possible new charges were ongoing, but officials said it was unlikely another investigation would begin before 2027.
