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'Bored' nurse found guilty, gets life in prison for patient homicides

By Amy R. Connolly

OLDENBURG, Germany, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A former nurse who admitted to killing 30 patients with lethal drug overdoses because he was bored and wanted to practice his nursing skills was sentenced in a German court to life in prison.

The 38-year-old man, who has only been identified as Niels H., was convicted on two counts of murder and attempted murder. He was also stripped of his nursing license and is not eligible for parole for 15 years.

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In early January, Niels admitted to his court-appointed psychiatrist he killed 30 patients by injecting them with an overdose of cardiovascular medication and then attempted to resuscitate them. He did it because he wanted to challenge his nursing skills, prosecutors said.

Niels had been on trial since September in the death of three patients. His court-appointed psychiatrist said Niels was able to revive 60 patients, but killed 30. He is suspected in the death of 178 who were under his care at Delmenhorst Hospital in northern Germany between 2003 and 2005.

In court, he apologized to the families of his victims.

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"Usually the decision to do it was relatively spontaneous," he said.

Niels, who worked in other medical facilities in Germany, is already serving seven and a half years for a 2008 attempted-murder conviction. A colleague discovered him giving a patient an overdose.

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