Convicted German nurse suspected of more deaths
June 22, 2016
Niels H., whose name is being withheld in compliance with German privacy laws, was sentenced to life imprisonment on February 26 for two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Now, authorities suspect he may be responsible for the deaths of more than two dozen other people.
German police said Wednesday that the former nurse, who worked at a hospital in the northern German town of Delmenhorst, is suspected of giving lethal doses of heart medication to an additional 27 patients.
In his last trial, Niels H. admitted to giving injections to about 90 elderly patients so that he could revive them in an effort to impress his colleagues.
A new chapter in the case
After exhuming the bodies of 99 patients who had been at the hospital in Delmenhorst, police said they had found traces of the heart medication in 27 bodies.
Chief prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlmann said the revelations could lead to a new chapter in the case. "There will naturally be another trial," she said on Wednesday in Oldenburg.
Another prosecutor said the investigation was still open and wouldn't be settled until Niels H.'s exact role in the killings was established.
blc/kms (dpa, AP)