OLDENBURG: A German nurse was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for murdering two hospital patients but authorities fear a far higher death toll after he admitted killing 30 people in a thrill-seeking life and death game.
The 38-year-old man, identified only as Niels H., has admitted to injecting his patients with lethal drug doses in a bid to try to revive them and shine as a savior before his medical peers.
“The accused is sentenced to life in prison,” said the presiding judge, finding the defendant guilty of two murders and two attempted murders, and noting the “severity” of the crimes.
The former nurse was on trial for causing the patients’ deaths in an intensive care ward in northern Germany around a decade ago, but admitted during the trial that he had played his deadly game on 90 patients, leading to 30 deaths.
Authorities said Monday they would exhume the bodies of more former patients to test them for traces of the lethal doses of heart medicine amid fears H. is one of the worst serial killers in German post-war history.
The sweeping investigation is looking into some 200 fatalities recorded at the hospital where he worked and at his previous places of employment to find out whether the confirmed cases are only the tip of the iceberg.
The defendant has admitted he injected critically ill patients with lethal doses of heart medicine so he could then show off his skills in resuscitating them at the Delmenhorst hospital near the northern city of Bremen.
“Usually the decision to do it was relatively spontaneous,” the handcuffed defendant — who was not fully named under Germany’s strict court reporting rules and shielded his face behind a paper folder — told the chamber last week.
“There was tension there, and an expectation of what would happen next,” said the tall and heavy-set man, who apologized to victims’ relatives for his deadly obsession.
He said he felt euphoric when he managed to bring a patient back to life, and devastated when he failed. Each time he would then vow to himself to end his deadly game, he said, only to strike again soon after.
Defense lawyer Ulrike Baumann had pleaded for a shorter term on lesser charges of manslaughter, arguing that the defendant’s aim was not to take lives.
“Mr H. did not want to kill, he wanted to conquer death,” she said. “There is no doubt about his guilt, but there is doubt about the severity of his guilt.”
The defendant was first caught in 2005 when a colleague saw him inject a patient in Delmenhorst clinic in the northern state of Lower Saxony, where H. had worked for two years.
![]()
German suspected serial killer nurse jailed for life
German suspected serial killer nurse jailed for life
Australian bushfires raze homes in two states; firefighter dies
- Sixteen homes lost on Central Coast region in New South Wales
- Tasmania 700-hectare blaze destroys 19 homes at Dolphin Sands
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: An Australian firefighter was killed overnight after he was struck by a tree while trying to control a bushfire that had destroyed homes and burnt large swathes of bushland north of Sydney, authorities said on Monday.
Emergency crews rushed to bushland near the rural town of Bulahdelah, 200 kilometers north of Sydney, after reports that a tree had fallen on a man. The 59-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the scene, officials said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the “terrible news is a somber reminder” of the dangers faced by emergency services personnel as they work to protect homes and families.
“We honor that bravery, every day,” Albanese said in a statement.
A fast-moving fire over the weekend destroyed 16 homes in New South Wales state’s Central Coast region, home to about 350,000 people and a commuter region just north of Sydney.
Resident Rouchelle Doust, from the hard-hit town of Koolewong, said she and her husband tried to save their home as flames advanced.
“He’s up there in his bare feet trying to put it out, and he’s trying and trying, and I’m screaming at him to come down,” Doust told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“Everything’s in it: his grandmother’s stuff, his mother’s stuff, all my stuff — everything, it’s all gone, the whole lot.”
Conditions eased overnight, allowing officials to downgrade fire danger alerts, though the weather bureau warned some inland towns in the state could hit more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, raising fire dangers.
More than 50 bushfires were burning across New South Wales as of Monday.
On the island state of Tasmania, a 700-hectare blaze at Dolphin Sands, about 150km northeast of the state capital of Hobart, destroyed 19 homes and damaged 40. The fire has been contained, but residents have been warned not to return as conditions remain dangerous, officials said.
Authorities have warned of a high-risk bushfire season during Australia’s summer months from December to February, with increased chances of extreme heat across large parts of the country following several relatively quiet years.
New Zealand national park fire
In neighboring New Zealand, five helicopters and multiple crews were working to put out a fire near the country’s oldest national park, a month after a wildfire burnt through 2,589 hectares of alpine bush there.
Police said they had closed a road near the state highway and advised motorists to avoid the area and expect delays, after the blaze near Tongariro National Park, a popular hiking spot, spread to 110 hectares by Monday afternoon.
Emergency crews rushed to bushland near the rural town of Bulahdelah, 200 kilometers north of Sydney, after reports that a tree had fallen on a man. The 59-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the scene, officials said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the “terrible news is a somber reminder” of the dangers faced by emergency services personnel as they work to protect homes and families.
“We honor that bravery, every day,” Albanese said in a statement.
A fast-moving fire over the weekend destroyed 16 homes in New South Wales state’s Central Coast region, home to about 350,000 people and a commuter region just north of Sydney.
Resident Rouchelle Doust, from the hard-hit town of Koolewong, said she and her husband tried to save their home as flames advanced.
“He’s up there in his bare feet trying to put it out, and he’s trying and trying, and I’m screaming at him to come down,” Doust told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“Everything’s in it: his grandmother’s stuff, his mother’s stuff, all my stuff — everything, it’s all gone, the whole lot.”
Conditions eased overnight, allowing officials to downgrade fire danger alerts, though the weather bureau warned some inland towns in the state could hit more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, raising fire dangers.
More than 50 bushfires were burning across New South Wales as of Monday.
On the island state of Tasmania, a 700-hectare blaze at Dolphin Sands, about 150km northeast of the state capital of Hobart, destroyed 19 homes and damaged 40. The fire has been contained, but residents have been warned not to return as conditions remain dangerous, officials said.
Authorities have warned of a high-risk bushfire season during Australia’s summer months from December to February, with increased chances of extreme heat across large parts of the country following several relatively quiet years.
New Zealand national park fire
In neighboring New Zealand, five helicopters and multiple crews were working to put out a fire near the country’s oldest national park, a month after a wildfire burnt through 2,589 hectares of alpine bush there.
Police said they had closed a road near the state highway and advised motorists to avoid the area and expect delays, after the blaze near Tongariro National Park, a popular hiking spot, spread to 110 hectares by Monday afternoon.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.