Prosecutors in Aachen, western Germany, have said they are investigating 121 further suspected cases linked to a former palliative care nurse already serving a life sentence for murdering 10 patients.
A spokeswoman for the Aachen prosecution service gave the figure on August 10.
The man, identified in German media only as Ulrich S., was convicted last November by the regional court in Aachen of 10 counts of murder and 27 of attempted murder. He was 44 at the time.
The court found he had given seriously ill patients unauthorised overdoses of sedatives during night shifts at the Rhein-Maas hospital in Würselen, near Aachen. The drugs were at times combined with painkillers and administered repeatedly.
Prosecutors told the trial he had shown irritation and no empathy towards patients who needed more care, and accused him of playing master of life and death.
Judges concluded he had been driven by personal unease and his own sense of order. He denied the charges throughout the proceedings.
The offences for which he was convicted took place between December 2023 and May 2024. The new inquiry concerns possible killings before that period, reaching back to September 2022.
Investigators in Aachen have carried out 39 exhumations so far. Prosecutors in Cologne, where the man worked until 2020, are examining 18 further suspected cases and have ordered seven more exhumations.
The Aachen prosecution service said a second indictment against him was likely, though no date had been set. A spokeswoman said it would probably be brought at some point next year.
A spokesman in Cologne described that investigation as highly complex and said it would take considerable time.
The Aachen court also found that the offences carried a particular severity of guilt, a ruling that in practice rules out release after 15 years.
Germany has seen a series of comparable cases. Niels Högel, a former nurse, was jailed for life in 2019 for 85 murders committed with lethal injections and is regarded as the country’s most prolific post-war killer.
In July a palliative care doctor in Berlin, identified as Johannes M., was sentenced to life for murdering 15 patients during home visits between 2021 and 2024.
He set fire to some of the victims’ flats to conceal the killings. Berlin prosecutors are examining 76 further suspected cases against him.
Both inquiries have added to scrutiny of oversight inside German hospitals and care services, which are already under strain from chronic staff shortages.
