A former palliative care nurse in western Germany, already serving a life sentence for murdering 10 patients, may be linked to more than 100 additional suspicious deaths, prosecutors have said. The chief public prosecutor in Aachen confirmed that a large number of cases are under review, stressing that they remain preliminary and may be dismissed after forensic analysis.
The unnamed nurse was convicted last year of administering excessive doses of sedatives and painkillers to seriously ill patients during night shifts at a hospital in Würselen between December 2023 and May 2024. The court ruled that the drugs were given without medical justification and that the nurse was aware of their potentially fatal consequences, describing his actions as an attempt to impose control during night shifts.
Investigators have ordered around 60 exhumations as part of the expanded probe, with dozens already completed and more pending, while prosecutors in Cologne are also examining deaths at hospitals where the nurse previously worked. Officials said autopsy results will determine whether new charges are filed, though any further legal proceedings are unlikely to begin before 2027. The case echoes Germany’s deadliest healthcare serial killer case involving former nurse Niels Högel.
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