Getty ImagesA palliative care nurse in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering 10 patients and attempting to murder 27 others.
Prosecutors alleged that the man, whose name has not been publicly released, injected his mostly elderly patients with painkillers or sedatives to ease his workload during night shifts.
The crimes were committed between December 2023 and May 2024 at a hospital in Würselen in western Germany.
During his career, investigators reportedly investigated several other suspicious cases.
The unnamed man had been working at the hospital in Würselen since 2020, after completing his nursing training in 2007, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Prosecutors told the court in Aachen that he showed “irritation” and a lack of empathy towards patients who required a higher level of care, and accused him of playing “master of life and death”.
The court was told he administered large doses of morphine and midazolam (a sedative) to patients to reduce workload during night shifts.
He was arrested in 2024.
In handing down the life sentence, the court said the man's crimes entailed a “particular gravity of guilt” that should prevent him from being released early after 15 years.
He will be able to appeal the verdict.
Prosecutors told AFP that exhumations were being carried out to identify further potential victims so the man could be brought back to justice.
The case has similarities former nurse Niels Högelwho was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 after being found guilty of killing 85 patients at two hospitals in northern Germany.
The court found that between 1999 and 2005 he administered lethal doses of heart drugs to people under his care.
He is considered the most prolific killer in modern German history.
