German nurse allegedly killed 100 patients

Oldenburg NW (Germany) German nurse Niels Hoegel(40), who had earlier confessed of killing dozens of patients out of boredom and for thrill, is believed to have killed around 100 people, prosecutors said on Thursday. It would make him one of the worst serial killers in modern history.

Prosecutors in the German state of Lower Saxony announced in late August that Hoegel is believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 90 patients, but 41 deaths were still under investigation at that time. Investigators have now attributed 16 additional deaths to the former nurse, raising the total to 106.

The nurse, who worked at clinics in Delmenhorst and Oldenburg, was first arrested in 2005 when a colleague caught him injecting a patient with medicine. The patient survived the ordeal. Hoegel was sentenced in 2008 to 7.5 years in prison on one count of attempted murder.

A woman whose mother had suddenly died while being treated at a clinic became suspicious after hearing about the case in the media and decided to go to the police. The investigation uncovered suspicious deaths, and Hoegel was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015.

During his trial, Hoegel had said he intentionally brought about cardiac crises in some 90 patients in Delmenhorst because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them. He later told investigators that he also killed patients in Oldenburg.

Hoegel is currently serving life in prison for the murder of six patients, but a three-year-long investigation has uncovered dozens of suspicious deaths.