Nurse handed life imprisonment after murdering 10 patients to ease night shift workload

A palliative care nurse in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murdering 10 patients and attempting to kill 27 to ease his workload during night shifts.

Prosecutors alleged that the man, who has not been publicly named, injected his mostly elderly patients with painkillers or sedatives in an effort to ease his workload during shifts overnight.

The offences were committed between December 2023 and May 2024 at a hospital in Würselen, western Germany. Investigators are now reviewing several other suspicious cases linked to his career.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the unnamed man had been employed at the hospital since 2020 after completing training as a nursing professional in 2007.

?? A German court has ordered a life jail sentence to a palliative care nurse for the murder of 10 patients and attempted murder of 27 others with lethal injections.
➡️ https://t.co/RU3Bt8cuF7 pic.twitter.com/4nHd4iOgME

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 5, 2025

Prosecutors told a court in Aachen that he showed “irritation” and a lack of empathy to patients who required a higher level of care and accused him of playing “master of life and death.”

The court heard that he injected patients with large doses of morphine and midazolam, a sedative, to reduce his workload during night shifts. He was arrested in 2024 following an internal investigation at the hospital.

When issuing the life sentence, the court said the man’s crimes carried a “particular severity of guilt,” which should bar him from early release after 15 years. He will, however, be able to appeal the verdict.

Prosecutors also told AFP that exhumations are being conducted to identify further potential victims, which could lead to additional charges.

The case bears resemblance to that of former nurse Niels Högel, who was handed a life sentence in 2019 after being convicted of murdering 85 patients at two hospitals in northern Germany.

A court found that Högel administered lethal doses of heart medication to people in his care between 1999 and 2005. He is believed to be the most prolific killer in Germany’s modern history.