German prosecutors believe nurse killed at least 86 patients
BERLIN — A male nurse who was convicted of killing patients in Germany with overdoses of heart medication is now believed to have killed at least 86 people — and the true scale of the killings could be even larger, investigators said Monday.
Many of the deaths could have been prevented if health authorities had acted more quickly on their suspicions, said Johann Kuehme, police chief in the northwestern city of Oldenburg.
Niels Hoegel, now 40, was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders at a hospital in the northwestern town of Delmenhorst. He was sentenced to life in prison. But prosecutors have long said they believe he killed many more people, last year putting the figure at 43 at least.
The crimes came to light after Hoegel was convicted of attempted murder in another case. Authorities subsequently investigated hundreds of deaths, exhuming bodies of former patients in Delmenhorst and nearby Oldenburg.
Kuehme said Monday that authorities have now unearthed evidence of 84 killings in addition to the ones for which Hoegel was convicted. The number of actual killings is likely higher because some possible victims were cremated, making it impossible to gather evidence, Kuehme added.
FILE – In this Feb. 26, 2015 file photo former nurse Niels Hoegel., accused of multiple murder and attempted murder of patients, covering his face with a file at the district court in Oldenburg, Germany. German authorities say Monday Aug. 28, 2017 they now believe that a nurse who was convicted of killing patients with overdoses of heart medication killed at least 84 people. Niels Hoegel was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders at a clinic in the northwestern town of Delmenhorst. Oldenburg police chief Johann Kuehme said Monday authorities have now unearthed evidence of 84 killings. (Carmen Jaspersen/dpa via AP,file) (Associated Press)
“Eighty-four killings … leave us speechless,” Kuehme told reporters. “And as if all that were not enough, we must realize that the real dimension of the killings by Niels H. is likely many times worse.”
The fact that the cases go back many years and people may struggle to remember the exact details of their loved ones’ deaths hurts authorities’ ability to determine an exact number, Kuehme said.
He faulted local health authorities for being slow to act.
“If the people responsible at the time, particularly at the Oldenburg clinic but also later in Delmenhorst, hadn’t hesitated to alert authorities — for example police, prosecutors —” Hoegel could have been stopped earlier, Kuehme said.
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