German Nurse Sentenced to Life for Killing 10 Patients

A 44-year-old nurse in Germany has been handed a life sentence for killing ten patients and attempting to murder 27 others with lethal drug injections. The shocking acts were reportedly carried out to ease his workload during night shifts.

Prosecutors said the nurse, whose name was withheld, acted like a “master of life and death” while working at a hospital in Wuerselen, near Aachen, western Germany. The court found him guilty of the crimes committed between December 2023 and May 2024.

Investigators revealed that he injected elderly and vulnerable patients with high doses of sedatives and painkillers such as morphine and midazolam substances commonly used in U.S. executions simply to avoid extra work.

During the trial, the court heard that he showed no remorse, empathy, or sense of responsibility. Experts described him as suffering from a severe personality disorder.

Judges ruled that his offences carried an “exceptional severity of guilt,” meaning he cannot apply for early release after 15 years a right usually granted under German law.

The nurse, who completed his training in 2007 and worked in various hospitals, joined the Wuerselen facility in 2020. He was arrested in mid-2024 after an unusual spike in patient deaths triggered suspicion.

Authorities have since exhumed several bodies to confirm whether there are more victims, raising the possibility of a second trial.

This case has revived memories of Niels Hoegel another German nurse jailed for life in 2019 for murdering 85 patients between 2000 and 2005, considered Germany’s most prolific serial killer.

In a separate but similar incident, Berlin prosecutors are also trying a 40-year-old palliative care doctor, identified as Johannes M., accused of killing 15 patients between 2021 and 2024. In five of those cases, he allegedly set victims’ homes on fire to hide the crimes.