Daijiworld Media Network – Berlin

Berlin, Nov 7: In a chilling case that has shocked Germany, a court in Aachen has sentenced a palliative care nurse to life imprisonment for murdering 10 patients and attempting to kill 27 others at a hospital in Wuerselen, western Germany.

The nurse, whose name has not been made public under German privacy laws, was found guilty of injecting his mostly elderly patients with morphine and sedatives to make his night shifts easier. The crimes occurred between December 2023 and May 2024.

Prosecutors said the convict showed “irritation” and “a disturbing lack of empathy” toward seriously ill patients, behaving like a “master of life and death.” Investigators suspect the death toll may be higher, as several bodies are being exhumed for further examination.

The man began working at the Wuerselen facility in 2020 after completing his nursing training in 2007. During his night duties, he allegedly administered excessive doses of morphine and midazolam, hastening the deaths of vulnerable patients. He was arrested in 2024 following an internal probe that raised alarm over the unusual number of deaths during his shifts.

The court ruled that the crime involved “particular severity of guilt,” which bars him from early parole after 15 years. The convict retains the right to appeal the verdict.

The case has drawn comparisons to that of Niels Högel, a former nurse convicted in 2019 for killing 85 patients in northern Germany — one of the country’s deadliest serial murder cases in modern history.