A former nurse at a clinic in Aachen, Germany, is now accused of causing the deaths of more patients than initially suspected. The Aachen public prosecutor’s office has expanded the charges against the 44-year-old man, who is now facing nine counts of murder and 34 counts of attempted murder. Previously, investigators had been looking into five murders and 25 attempted murders.
According to the indictment, the man allegedly administered sedating medications to the patients, sometimes in combination with painkillers. It is believed he did so to have a quiet night during his night shift, the public prosecutor’s office said. All the alleged crimes are believed to have taken place on the palliative care ward of the clinic between December 2023 and May 2024.
The investigation by the public prosecutor’s office began last summer and the suspect has been in pre-trial detention since then. Until early May 2024, the man was still employed at the Würselen clinic. As part of the investigation, exhumations were conducted and experts are currently reviewing the files from the man’s three years of employment. Several experts are working on the case.
The former nurse is not only suspected of killing terminally ill patients but also patients with a positive prognosis, who were just about to be discharged from the hospital. Investigators believe that more cases will come to light in the coming weeks. The 44-year-old man could potentially be one of the worst serial killers in German criminal history.