Niels Hoegel: killer nurse confesses to 97 murders
‘Angel of death’ believed to be worst serial killer in recent German history
A nurse has told a German court that he fatally poisoned more than 100 patients over five years.
Niels Hoegel, 41, is already serving a life sentence on charges of murder and attempted murder for deaths that occurred while he was working at two hospitals in northern Germany between 2000 and 2005.
He is now charged with a further 97 murders, having confessed to a prison psychologist that the true extent of his killing spree was far larger than supposed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Today, in front of a courtroom packed with relatives of the deceased, Hoegel answered “yes” when asked if the charges against him were accurate.
“What I have admitted took place,” he said.
Hoegel deliberately injected patients in his care with powerful medications which he knew would send them into cardiac arrest, “in an attempt to show off his resuscitation skills to colleagues and fight off boredom”, says CNN.
In earlier hearings, Hoegel said he got an adrenaline rush from trying to revive his victims and felt “euphoric when he managed to bring a patient back to life, and devastated when he failed”.
His deadly spree came to an end in 2005, when he was caught attempting to inject an unprescribed drug into a patient at Delmenhorst hospital.
However, a police investigation concluded that he could have been stopped earlier if the two hospitals had not “failed to report the disturbing increase in fatalities when Högel was working”, says Deutsche Welle.
He is believed to be the most prolific serial killer in modern German history. So far, police have exhumed 130 bodies of patients who died under his care, and investigators say it may be impossible to ascertain the true death toll, as the bodies of some potential victims were cremated.
Presiding judge Sebastian Buehrmann “said the main aim of the trial was to establish the full scope of the murder spree”, Sky News reports.
“We will do our utmost to learn the truth,” he said. “It is like a house with dark rooms - we want to bring light into the darkness.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Is the death penalty racist? Of course it is.'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - May 8, 2024
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - social media guilt, gag orders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Boy Scouts changes name to Scouting America
Speed Read The organization is rebranding, citing inclusivity
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Weinstein's appeal: a blow to #MeToo
Talking Point Is 'shocking' reversal of symbolic conviction a sign of weakening movement?
By The Week UK Published
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Sydney mall attacker may have targeted women
Speed Read Police commissioner says gender of victims is 'area of interest' to investigators
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Armed gangs, prison breaks and on-air hostages: how Ecuador was plunged into crisis
The Explainer Gangs launch deadly revenge after president declares state of emergency following escape of feared drug boss from prison
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ecuador tips toward chaos amid prison breaks, armed TV takeover
Speed Read New President Daniel Noboa authorized the military to 'neutralize' powerful drug-linked gangs after they unleashed violence and terror across Ecuador
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published