Former German Nurse Admits to Murdering 100 Patients

A former nurse accused of murdering 100 patients over more than a decade in two hospitals in Germany admitted on Tuesday, November 8, during his first trial session that most of the crimes against him are true. 41-year-old Niels Högel had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. His trial in the city of Oldenburg in northwestern Germany began with a minute of silence in honor of the patients. In response to the judge's question about the validity of the charges against him, Högel replied, 'Yes.' In the German judicial system, formal admission of crimes by the accused is not common. The murder charges concerning 100 patients date back to Högel's employment from 1999 to 2002 at the Oldenburg hospital and from 2003 to 2005 at the Delmenhorst hospital. The ages of the victims ranged from 34 to 96 years. Högel was convicted in 2015 of two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. At that time, he stated that he had intentionally caused over 90 patients at the Oldenburg hospital to suffer heart attacks because he enjoyed resuscitation. He later told prosecutors that he had killed patients at the Oldenburg hospital. Following this, the prosecution investigated the deaths of hundreds of patients and exhumed them. Due to the large number of plaintiffs and public attention, the Oldenburg court is holding the trial in a large conference hall. The judge opened the trial session by asking all attendees for a minute of silence in respect for the victims, stating, 'Regardless of whether the accused had a hand in their deaths or not, the families of these individuals must be respected.' The judge also mentioned that all necessary actions would be taken to uncover the truth and that the accused would receive a fair trial. Högel told the court that he had been well taken care of in childhood and had not experienced any violence. He added that both his grandmother and father were nurses, and he was inspired by them to pursue a nursing career. If convicted of additional crimes, he may lose his chance for parole, but in Germany, the method of adding years of imprisonment and consecutive sentences is not applied. Typically, individuals sentenced to life imprisonment are eligible for parole after serving 15 years. A spokesperson for the families of the patients stated, 'We have worked for four years for this trial and hope that Niels Högel is convicted of committing 100 more murders. Our goal is to extend his prison term as long as possible.' The trial will continue until Tuesday. Police stated that if local medical officials had not hesitated to inform the responsible authorities, Högel's crimes could have been stopped much sooner. The prosecution has also filed charges against several staff members of the two hospitals where the murders occurred.