German nurse killed 106 people out of ‘boredom’

Berlin, Nov. 10: A German nurse who used lethal drugs on patients out of “boredom” is responsible for the deaths of 106 people, investigators said Thursday, noting the toll could rise further as more bodies are studied.

Niels Hoegel, 41, was convicted in 2015 of two murders and four counts of attempted murder or causing bodily harm on intensive-care patients at the Delmenhorst hospital near the northern city of Bremen.

But exhumations and analyses since have

Niels Hoegel, 41, was convicted in 2015 of two murders and four counts of attempted murder or causing bodily harm on serious patients

uncovered evidence of scores of other victims, with police saying in August that Hoegel had murdered more than 90 other patients.

On Thursday, police and prosecutors confirmed an additional 16 deaths, attributed to the nurse who worked at two hospitals between 1999 and 2005. More deaths may still be uncovered with toxicology studies under way for five other cases, and exhumations of three former patients planned in Turkey.

Prosecutors said they expect to bring the new charges against Hoegel early next year. He has admitted to injecting patients with drugs that can cause heart failure or circulatory collapse so he could then try to revive them.