A German palliative nurse was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for the murder of 10 patients with lethal injections and the attempted murder of 27 others, a court in Aachen has confirmed.

Prosecutors said the nurse administered painkillers and sedatives to mostly elderly patients to lighten his nighttime workload.

The court classified the crimes as “particularly severe,” meaning the nurse is unlikely to be released after the 15-year minimum for a life sentence under German law. The offenses occurred between December 2023 and May 2024 at a clinic near Aachen in western Germany.

The nurse pictured hiding his face as he enters the courtroom.

Investigators are examining additional suspicious incidents from the nurse’s career, German media reported.

This case evokes memories of Germany’s worst post-war medical killing spree, in which a former nurse was jailed in 2019 for murdering 85 patients.

Medical professionals are entrusted with the lives of the vulnerable, making these crimes particularly shocking.

Courts in Germany classify such deliberate patient killings as some of the gravest offenses, reflecting both societal outrage and the betrayal of public trust in healthcare settings.