Life sentence for ex-nurse who killed 85 patients

This Friday, German court confirmed the life sentence of former nurse Niels Högel, who filed an appeal alleging “procedural errors”, more than a year after the sentence was announced for the murder of 85 patients.

The Federal Court of Appeal announced that it had not identified any procedural error and, consequently, “rejected” the former nurse’s appeal 43, according to a court statement.

“The sentence is therefore enforceable,” the note said.

Niels Högel was convicted by a court in the city of Oldenburg in northwest Germany in June 2019.

The former nurse was sentenced to life imprisonment with a security sentence, which makes any release almost impossible even after 15 years in prison.

An appeal by one of the civil parties, which contested Högel’s acquittal declared by the Oldenburg court in 15 deaths for lack of sufficient evidence, was also rejected by the federal court.

Högel had already been convicted of six murders, bringing the official death toll by the former nurse to 91.

Between 2000 and 2005, Niels Högel caused cardiac arrest in patients to give himself hero status in his attempts, usually unsuccessful, to resuscitate them.

Högel first killed patients in a hospital in Oldenburg, a city in northwest Germany, and then in the small town nearby Delmenhorst.

The victims, aged between 34 and 96, were chosen arbitrarily. Affected by a serious narcissism, but considered responsible for his actions, Högel sought recognition from his colleagues and superiors.

Högel even apologized in a statement at the end of the trial, which lasted seven months.

The true extent of their crimes will probably never be known, as many alleged victims have been cremated.

Police suspect that Niels Högel killed more than 200 patients.

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