German nurse jailed for murders could be linked to 100 more deaths

An ex-nurse convicted of murdering 10 patients in western Germany may be linked to more than 100 additional deaths, an official has said.

The chief public prosecutor in Aachen, Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts, told the BBC that there was "a correspondingly high number of suspicious cases" under review.

She cautioned that the cases represented preliminary suspicions and that some could be dismissed following forensic examination.

In November last year, a regional court in Aachen convicted the former palliative care nurse, who has not been publicly named, of 10 counts of murder and 27 counts of attempted murder, sentencing him to life imprisonment.

The court found that during night shifts at a hospital in Würselen, the man had administered excessive doses of sedatives and painkillers to seriously ill patients without medical justification.

Prosecutors said the drugs were sometimes given repeatedly and that the defendant was aware of the potentially fatal consequences. Judges concluded that the actions were driven by personal unease and a desire to impose order during night shifts.

The defendant denied the charges during the trial in Aachen, stating that he had intended to help patients sleep and had not believed the medication posed a lethal risk given their underlying illnesses.

But prosecutors told the court that he showed "irritation" and a lack of empathy to patients who required a higher level of care, and accused him of playing "master of life and death".

The offences examined in the initial trial occurred between December 2023 and May 2024 at the Rhein-Maas hospital in Würselen, where the nurse had worked since 2020.

The newly identified suspected cases relate largely to earlier periods.

As part of the expanded inquiry, investigators have ordered around 60 exhumations. Twenty seven have already been carried out, with roughly 30 more pending.

Schlenkermann-Pitts said autopsy results were still outstanding in many cases and would determine whether further charges could be brought.

"Of course, they may still be dropped," she cautioned.

Prosecutors in Cologne are also examining deaths linked to hospitals where the nurse worked before his transfer to Würselen, 65km (40 miles) away.

Two exhumations have taken place so far, including the remains of a 94 year old woman who died in 2018, and a 78 year old patient who died in 2015. Further exhumations have been ordered.

Prosecutors in both Aachen and Cologne said preparations for potential new charges were under way, but officials said that any further proceedings were unlikely to begin before 2027.

The case bears similarity to that of former nurse Niels Högel, who was handed a life sentence in 2019 after he was convicted of murdering 85 patients at two hospitals in northern Germany.

Högel is believed to be the most prolific killer in Germany's modern history.