Getty ImagesA palliative care nurse in Germany has been sentenced to prison after she was convicted of killing 10 patients and attempting to kill 27 others.
Prosecutors said the man, who has not yet been publicly named, injected his mostly elderly patients with painkillers or sedatives in an effort to ease his nighttime work.
The offenses were committed between December 2023 and May 2024 at a hospital in Wuerelen, in western Germany.
Investigators are reported to have looked into several other suspicious cases in his career.
According to the France Media outlet France-Presse (AFP), the unknown man has been working at the WUerselen hospital since 2020, after training as a professional in 2007.
Prosecutors told an aachel court that he showed “irritation” and a lack of empathy towards patients who needed a higher level of care, and was accused of a higher level of care, and accused him of having “the master of life and death”.
The court was told that he injected patients with large doses of Morphine and Motozolam, a watch rel rel rel rel relaxant, in an effort to reduce his nighttime function.
He was arrested in 2024.
In issuing the life sentence, the court said the man’s crimes carried a “certain gravity of guilt” that should bar him from early release after 15 years.
He can appeal the verdict.
Prosecutors told AFP that identifications are underway to identify more potential victims, which will see the person tried again.
The case bears resemblance to former Nures Högel, who was given a life sentence in 2019 after he was convicted of murdering 85 hospitals in northern Germany.
A court heard he administered fatal doses of the drug to people in his care between 1999 and 2005.
He is believed to be the most prolific killer in modern German history.