German killer nurse murdered over 90 patients, say cops

Berlin: A male nurse jailed for life two years ago for killing two patients with lethal drug overdoses murdered at least 90 patients in total, police said, calling it post-war Germany’s worst killing spree.

Niels Hoegel, 40, was jailed in February 2015 for two murders and several attempted murders of intensive care patients at the Delmenhorst hospital near the northern city of Bremen.

Police said yesterday that investigators exhuming and analysing more bodies had since found evidence of scores of additional murders.

The death toll “is unique in the history of the German republic”, said chief police investigator Arne Schmidt, adding that Hoegel killed randomly and preyed especially on those in critical condition.

There was “evidence for at least 90 murders, and at least as many (suspected) cases again that can no longer be proven”, he told a press conference, declaring himself “speechless” at the outcome.

Hoegel has admitted to injecting patients with a drug that can cause heart failure or circulatory collapse so he could then try to revive them and, when successful, shine as a saviour before his medical peers.

He said he felt euphoric when he managed to bring a patient back to life, and devastated when he failed.

After the revelations of the nurse’s murderous obsession, police and prosecutors launched a special forensic commission to look into other patient deaths.

Presenting their findings, police said yesterday that more than 130 bodies had been exhumed and tested for traces of the deadly drug.

The cause of death in many more could not be determined because the remains were cremated, said Oldenburg police chief Johann Kuehme.

Hoegel had admitted to 30 cases in which he named patients he killed, said prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlemann.