Already serving a life sentence for two murders, nurse Niels Högel went on trial again on Tuesday on charges that he killed another 100 patients.

When asked by the presiding judge whether the charges against him were accurate, Högel replied: "Yes."

The massive trial opened in the northern German city of Oldenburg with a minute of silence in memory of the victims. Court proceedings had to be held in a nearby festival hall instead of in Oldenburg's regional court to accommodate the 126 plaintiffs in the case and the high level of public interest.

"The plaintiffs want to look the defendant in the eye," lawyer Gaby Lübben said on Tuesday.

Presiding Judge Sebastian Bührmann said that the goal of the trial was to reveal the full scope of the murders that were allowed to go unchecked for years.

"We will do our utmost to learn the truth," he said. "It is like a house with dark rooms — we want to bring light into the darkness."

The 41-year-old nurse is already serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2015 of killing two patients. Investigators later determined that the total number of his victims was likely much higher — making him one of the most prolific serial killers in German postwar history.

Intentionally causing cardiac arrest

According to the indictment, Högel is accused of carrying out the murders between February 2000 and June 2005 in two hospitals in the northern German cities of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst.

The youngest of his victims was 34-years-old and the oldest was 96.

Prosecutors say Högel injected patients in order to demonstrate his medical skills or out of boredom

Prosecutors argue that Högel randomly selected patients and injected them with a cocktail of drugs that caused them to go into cardiac arrest or to suffer other complications so that he could revive them.

"The prosecutor's office assumes that he did this in order to create a life-threatening situation in order to demonstrate his resuscitation skills to colleagues and superiors," the indictment states. Prosecutors have also said he may have done it out of boredom.

He was caught in the act by a nurse in Delmenhorst in the summer of 2005, but it took years for the full extent of the killings to be revealed.

Investigators looked into 200 suspicious cases and have exhumed 130 bodies for tests — including two bodies in Turkey. However, many of the patients who died at the hospitals while Högel was there were cremated and their remains didn't offer any evidence.

German police have said that Högel likely would have been stopped earlier if local health officials hadn't hesitated to inform the authorities. Criminal cases are currently also being pursued against former staff at the two hospitals where Högel worked.

The trial is expected to run until May of next year, with dozens of witnesses expected to testify.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The cannibal of Münsterberg Karle Denke murdered and cannibalized at least 42 people, mostly villagers, between 1903 and 1924 in his Münsterberg apartment in then Prussia (pictured). It is thought that he even sold the flesh of his victims at the Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) market as pork. A victim was able to escape and later police found cured human flesh in his home. Denke hung himself in his jail cell two days later.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The horror of Hanover Fritz Haarmann is thought to have sexually assaulted, murdered, mutilated and dismembered at least 24 boys and young men between 1918 and 1924.The full extent of his crimes were revealed after 500 pieces of human bone, some with knife marks, were found by Hanover residents worried about the disappearance of children in the area. Haarmann, who was once a police informant, was beheaded in 1925.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The butcher of Berlin Karl Grossmann killed his victims and sold their meat on the black market and at his hotdog stand. After neighbors heard screaming, police burst into his home to find a dead young woman on his bed. It is unclear how many lives Grossmann took, but he is suspected of dismembering 23 women found nearby and up to 100 missing cases in Berlin. He hung himself in 1922 before receiving the death penalty.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The terror of Falkenhagen Lake Friedrich Schumann was a locksmith who raped, murdered and stole from 1918 to 1920. After a confrontation with a local forester — whom he shot — Schumann was arrested and charged with the murder of six people and attempted murder of 11 others. He was sentenced to death six times. The night before his execution at aged 28, he admitted to killing 25 people, including his first victim — his cousin.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The S-Bahn murderer Paul Ogorzow was convicted for 31 sexual assaults, the murder of eight women and attempted murder of six others in Nazi-era Berlin between 1940 and 1941. Ogorzow worked for the German commuter rail system and would threaten, stab or bludgeon his rape victims before sometimes throwing them off the moving train. He was sentenced to death and beheaded two days later.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The death-maker In 1946 and 1947, Rudolf Pleil worked as a border guard in the Harz Mountains and illegally trafficked mostly women from East to West Germany. For a while, he had two accomplices, who would help trap victims. Rudolf Pleil was convicted of killing a salesman and nine women but he claimed to have killed 25 people. Sentenced to life in prison in 1950, Pleil committed suicide eight years later.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The man-eater of Duisburg Joachim Gero Kroll was a serial killer, rapist, child molester and cannibal. Between 1955 and 1976 he murdered up to 14 people, mainly women and young girls. When he was arrested in 1976, human remains were packed in his refrigerator and he was in the process of cooking the arms and hands of a four-year-old girl he had just killed. Imprisoned for life in 1982, Kroll died of a heart attack in 1991.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers Smoking out murder Fritz Honka was notorious for killing at least four women between 1970 and 1975. He strangled prostitutes in his apartment and cut up their corpses. Firefighters found hidden body parts in his apartment after a fire broke out while he was gone. Honka was sentenced to 15 years in a psychiatric institution. After his release in 1993, he lived in a retirement home until his death five years later.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The St. Pauli killer Werner Pinzner was a for-hire killer for pimps in Hamburg's red light district. He is thought to have killed between seven and 10 people. Pinzner gained nationwide fame in 1986 when he was brought to the Hamburg police department for interrogation with his wife and lawyer. He suddenly pulled out a gun and shot the investigating prosecutor before turning the gun on his wife and himself.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers Death by poison A nurse from Cologne, Marianne Nölle killed patients in her care by poisoning them with an antipsychotic drug between 1984 and 1992. Police believe she actually killed 17 people and attempted a further 18 murders, but she was only convicted of killing seven patients. She has never confessed to any of her crimes and since 1993, Nölle has been serving a life sentence.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers Killer on the roads Volker Eckert was a German trucker who murdered at least nine women, most of them between 2001 and 2006. According to police, there were probably four others. His first victim was a classmate whom he strangled aged 15. Most of his victims were prostitutes he picked up across Europe and he kept trophies like his victims' hair. Eckert hung himself in his cell during his trial in 2007.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers Angel of death Stephan Letter is a former nurse responsible for the death of at least 29 patients by lethal injection at a Bavarian hospital between 2003 and 2004. Arrested for drug theft, Letter confessed to some of the killings, insisting that he was trying to relieve suffering. He is serving a life sentence and until recently, his acts were described as Germany's worst killing spree since World War II.

With a view to kill: Germany's worst serial killers The killer nurse Keen to impress colleagues with his life-saving skills, Niels Högel would inject patients with cardiovascular medication to induce heart failure or circulatory collapse. He was convicted of killing two people and was jailed for life in 2015. However, after a multi-year probe, investigators now believe the former nurse was responsible for 100 more deaths, making him Germany's most prolific killer.



rs/jm (AP, AFP, dpa)

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An ex-nurse in Germany has admitted at the start of his trial that he murdered 100 patients, making him one of the world's most prolific serial killers.

Detectives say Niels Högel administered fatal doses of medication to the people in his care - causing cardiac arrest - at two hospitals in northern Germany.

His motive, prosecutors say, was to impress colleagues by trying to revive the very patients he had attacked.

Högel, 41, is already serving a life term for six deaths while in his care.

He is now said to have killed 36 patients in Oldenburg and 64 in nearby Delmenhorst between 1999 and 2005.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Niels Högel hid his face from the cameras in court on Tuesday

Image copyright AFP Image caption He was later seen being led to a police vehicle

When asked by the judge in the Oldenburg court if the charges against him were true, the 41-year-old confessed to "more or less" all of them.

The current trial, which started with a minute's silence for the victims, is expected to last until May. It follows years of toxicology tests on 130 sets of exhumed remains.

Questions remain for victims' families

By Jenny Hill, BBC News, Berlin

Dozens of relatives of those who died at the hands of Niels Högel were in court to hear his confession.

Many of them are demanding to know how he was able to kill - with apparent impunity - so many people in the confines of two hospitals.

Death rates rose significantly during Högel's time.

Disturbing details have emerged: it's been widely reported that Högel was allowed to continue working for two days after he was caught "red handed" having administered drugs to a patient, during which time he killed another patient.

Many relatives believe health authorities chose to turn a blind eye.

An investigation is under way to determine whether their actions facilitated the murderous ambitions of post-war Germany's most prolific serial killer.

Investigators say he may have killed even more but potential victims have been cremated.

Christian Marbach, a spokesperson for relatives, said it was a scandal the ex-nurse had been allowed to kill with impunity for years without officials intervening.

"We fought for four years for this trial and expect Högel is sentenced for another 100 murders," said Mr Marbach, whose grandfather was killed by Högel.

"I hope he will be found guilty on each count so that the loved ones can finally find some closure," said Petra Klein, who runs a victims' support group.

Relatives of his alleged victims were expected to pack the court but journalists in the room noted many empty seats in reserved rows.

Högel was first caught in 2005 injecting unprescribed medication into a patient in Delmenhorst. In 2008 he was jailed for seven years for attempted murder.

In 2014-15, a second trial found him guilty of two murders and two attempted murders and he was given the maximum sentence.

He said he was "honestly sorry" and hoped families would find peace. He said the decisions to carry out his crimes had been "relatively spontaneous".

However, during the trial he confessed to a psychiatrist that he had killed up to 30 people.

Investigators then widened the investigation, exhuming 130 former patients and looking for evidence of medication that could have triggered cardiac arrest. They also pored over records in the hospitals he worked at.

Records at the Oldenburg hospital showed rates of deaths and resuscitations had more than doubled when Högel was on shift, German media reported.</s>A nurse serving a life sentence for two murders is going on trial on charges that he killed a further 100 patients at two hospitals in Germany.

Niels Hoegel's trial is to open Tuesday in the northwestern city of Oldenburg. The murder charges against him stem from his time at a hospital in Oldenburg between 1999 and 2002 and at another hospital in nearby Delmenhorst from 2003 to 2005.

Hoegel was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders. During that trial, he said he intentionally brought about cardiac crises in some 90 patients in Delmenhorst because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them. He later told investigators that he also killed patients in Oldenburg.</s>A former nurse accused of killing 100 patients at two hospitals in Germany more than a decade ago has told a court as his trial opened that the charges against him are largely accurate.

Niels Hoegel, 41, is already serving a life sentence for murder.

His trial in the north-western city of Oldenburg began with a minute's silence for the patients.

Asked by presiding judge Sebastian Buehrmann whether the charges against him are largely true, Hoegel replied yes, news agency dpa reported. There are no formal pleas in the German legal system.

The murder charges stem from Hoegel's time at a hospital in Oldenburg between 1999 and 2002 and at another hospital in nearby Delmenhorst from 2003 to 2005. The alleged victims were aged between 34 and 96.

Hoegel was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders. He said then that he intentionally brought about cardiac crises in some 90 patients in Delmenhorst because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them.

He later told investigators that he also killed patients in Oldenburg.

Authorities subsequently investigated hundreds of deaths, exhuming bodies of former patients.

The Oldenburg state court is conducting the trial at a courtroom set up in a conference centre, a venue chosen to accommodate a large number of co-plaintiffs and public interest in the proceedings.

Judge Buehrmann opened the proceedings by asking everyone present to stand for a minute's silence for the deceased patients.

The judge said: "We will make every effort to seek the truth."

Hoegel told the court that he had a "protected" childhood, free of violence. He said his grandmother and his father, who were both nurses, had been his role models for going into the profession.

An additional conviction could affect Hoegel's possibility of parole, but there are no consecutive sentences in Germany. In general, people serving life sentences are considered for parole after 15 years.

The trial is scheduled to last until May.

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Click here for iPhone and here for Android</s>Oldenburg: Former nurse Niels Hoegel, accused of killing more than 100 patients in his care, went on trial Tuesday in the biggest serial killing case in Germany´s post-war history.

Hoegel, 41, has already spent nearly a decade in prison on a life term for other patient deaths, and is accused of intentionally administering medical overdoses to victims so he could bring them back to life at the last moment.

As the proceedings opened in the northern city of Oldenburg, presiding judge Sebastian Buehrmann said the main aim of the trial was to establish the full scope of the murder spree that was allowed to go unchecked for years at two German hospitals.

"We will do our utmost to learn the truth," he said. "It is like a house with dark rooms -- we want to bring light into the darkness."

The bearded, heavyset Hoegel took his seat in the courtroom wearing a hoodie and covered his face with a folder as long as photographers and camera teams were allowed to remain.

After a minute of silence for the victims, Hoegel listened impassively, his head lowered, as public prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlmann read out the name of each patient and the charges against the defendant.

During the trial set to last until at least May, he is to face questioning before dozens of victims´ anguished loved ones.

Prosecutors say at least 36 patients were killed at a hospital in Oldenburg where he worked, and about 64 more at a clinic in nearby Delmenhorst, between 2000 and 2005.

More than 130 bodies of patients who died on Hoegel´s watch have been exhumed, in a case investigators have called "unprecedented in Germany to our knowledge".

One of the more than 100 co-plaintiffs in the trial, Christian Marbach, said it was a scandal that Hoegel had been allowed to kill with impunity for such an extended period of time without hospital authorities or law enforcement intervening.

"They had everything they needed (to stop him) -- you don´t have to be Sherlock Holmes," Marbach, the grandson of one of the patients, told AFP.

"I am basically looking for answers, and for justice," said Frank Brinkers, whose father was among the alleged victims.

Caught in 2005 while injecting an unprescribed medication into a patient in Delmenhorst, Hoegel was sentenced in 2008 to seven years in prison for attempted murder.

A second trial followed in 2014-15 under pressure from alleged victims´ families, who accused prosecutors of dragging their feet.

He was found guilty of murder and attempted murder of five other victims and given the maximum sentence of 15 years.

It was then that Hoegel confessed to his psychiatrist at least 30 more murders committed in Delmenhorst. That prompted investigators to take a closer look at suspicious deaths in Oldenburg.

Investigators say the final toll could top 200 but fear they might never know for sure because the bodies of many potential victims were cremated.

Hoegel appears to have followed a similar procedure each time, first injecting a medication that triggered cardiac arrest, followed by an often futile attempt at resuscitation.

Prosecutors say he was motivated by vanity, to show off his skills at saving human lives, and by simple "boredom".

The choice of victim appears to have been entirely random, with their ages ranging from 34 to 96.

Killing in itself was never his aim, according to one psychologist who evaluated him.

When he managed to revive a patient, he was sated, but only for a few days, the expert said, adding: "For him, it was like a drug."</s>Former nurse Niels Hoegel, accused of killing more than 100 patients in his care, will go on trial Tuesday in the biggest serial killing trial in Germany's post-war history.

Hoegel, 41, has already spent nearly a decade in prison for other patient deaths, and is accused of intentionally administering medical overdoses to victims so he could bring them back to life at the last moment.

He is to face questioning before dozens of victims' anguished loved ones who still hope to learn the full scope of his murder spree.

The trial in Oldenburg, northern Germany, is set to last until at least May, with the first hearing to focus on prosecutors presenting their case.

Hoegel, who is already serving a life term, has confessed to dozens of killings.

Investigators say at least 36 patients were killed at a hospital in Oldenburg where he worked, and about 64 more at a clinic in nearby Delmenhorst, between 2000 and 2005.

"I hope he will be found guilty on each count so that the loved ones can finally find some closure," said Petra Klein, who runs the local chapter of the victims' aid group Weisser Ring.

Around 126 relatives will be co-plaintiffs in the new trial and are expected to fill the specially designated courtroom in Oldenburg, along with about 80 journalists.

More than 130 bodies of patients who died on Hoegel's watch have been exhumed, in a case investigators have called "unprecedented in Germany to our knowledge".

Caught in 2005 while injecting an unprescribed medication into a patient in Delmenhorst, Hoegel was sentenced in 2008 to seven years in prison for attempted murder.

A second trial followed in 2014-15 under pressure from alleged victims' families, who accused prosecutors of dragging their feet.

He was found guilty of murder and attempted murder of five other victims and given the maximum sentence of 15 years.

It was then that Hoegel confessed to his psychiatrist at least 30 more murders committed in Delmenhorst. That prompted investigators to take a closer look at suspicious deaths in Oldenburg.

Investigators say the final toll could top 200 but fear they might never know for sure because the bodies of many potential victims were cremated.

Hoegel appears to have followed a similar procedure each time, first injecting a medication that triggered cardiac arrest, followed by an often futile attempt at resuscitation.

Prosecutors say he was motivated by vanity, to show off his skills at saving human lives, and by simple "boredom".

The choice of victim appears to have been entirely random, with their ages ranging from 34 to 96.

Killing in itself was never his aim, according to one psychologist who evaluated him.

When he managed to revive a patient, he was sated, but only for a few days, the expert said, before adding: "For him, it was like a drug."</s>A former nurse has admitted to some shocking acts on their first day of trial for murder.

According to BBC, Niels Högel said he was “more or less” responsible for the murder of 100 patients.

Detectives say the 41-year-old administered fatal doses of medication to people in his care when he worked at two hospitals in northern Germany. Prosecutors say his motive was to impress colleagues by resuscitating the very patients he had given doses to.

Högel is already serving a life term for six deaths that happened under his care. Now he’s been accused of killing 36 patients in Oldenburg and 64 in nearby Delmenhorst between 1999 and 2005.

According to German media, records from Oldenburg hospital revealed that rates of deaths and resuscitations had more than doubled when Högel was on shift.

When the judge in Oldenburg court asked Högel if the charges against him were true, he confessed to “more or less” all of them.

Investigators say Högel might have killed even more people but the potential victims have been cremated.

The current trial started with a minute of silence for all the people who died. The trial is expected to last until May and it follows years of toxicology tests on 130 sets of exhumed remains.

Relatives of the deceased aren’t just mad at Högel either. Many are accusing the German health authorities of ignoring Högel’s murderous activity.

Christian Marbach, a spokesperson for the relatives, called out the fact that Högel was killing with impunity for years and officials didn’t intervene. “We fought for four years for this trial and expect Högel is sentenced for another 100 murders,” said Marbach, whose grandfather was killed by Högel.

“I hope he will be found guilty on each count so that the loved ones can finally find some closure,” said Petra Klein, who runs a support group for victims.</s>A nurse serving a life sentence for two murders is going on trial on charges that he killed a further 100 patients at two hospitals in Germany.

Niels Hoegel's trial is to open Tuesday in the northwestern city of Oldenburg. The murder charges against him stem from his time at a hospital in Oldenburg between 1999 and 2002 and at another hospital in nearby Delmenhorst from 2003 to 2005.

Hoegel was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders. During that trial, he said he intentionally brought about cardiac crises in some 90 patients in Delmenhorst because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them. He later told investigators that he also killed patients in Oldenburg.

Be the first to know. No one covers what is happening in our community better than we do. And with a digital subscription, you'll never miss a local story.</s>For some ladies, it’s the men locked in prison that get their heart thumping. But why do certain women fall in love with criminals?

A FORMER nurse serving a life sentence for murder has gone on trial on charges that he killed a further 100 patients at two hospitals in Germany.

Niels Hoegel, 41, told a court in the northwestern city of Oldenburg that the charges against him were largely accurate, news agency dpa reported. The trial began with a minute of silence for the patients, reports the New York Post.

The murder charges stem from Hoegel’s time at a hospital in Oldenburg between 1999 and 2002 and at another hospital in nearby Delmenhorst from 2003 to 2005. The alleged victims were between 34 and 96 years old.

Hoegel has been labelled as post-war Germany’s most prolific serial killer.

Hoegel was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders. During that trial, he said he intentionally brought about cardiac crises in some 90 patients in Delmenhorst because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them. He later told investigators he also killed patients in Oldenburg.

Authorities subsequently investigated hundreds of deaths, exhuming bodies of former patients.

The Oldenburg state court is conducting the trial at a courtroom set up in a conference centre, a venue chosen to accommodate a large number of co-plaintiffs and public interest in the proceedings.

Presiding judge Sebastian Buehrmann opened the proceedings by asking everyone present to stand for a minute of silence for the deceased patients.

“All of their relatives deserve that their memory be honoured,” independently of whether Hoegel had anything to do with their deaths, Buehrmann said. “We will make every effort to seek the truth.”

An additional conviction could affect Hoegel’s possibility of parole, but there are no consecutive sentences in Germany. In general, people serving life sentences are considered for parole after 15 years.

“We have fought for four years for this trial and expect Hoegel to be convicted of another 100 killings,” said Christian Marbach, a representative of the patients’ relatives. “The aim is for Hoegel to stay in custody as long as possible.”

The trial is scheduled to last until May.

Police have said that, if local health officials hadn’t hesitated in alerting authorities, Hoegel could have been stopped earlier.

Authorities are pursuing criminal cases against former staff at the two medical facilities.

This story was originally published in the New York Times and is reprinted with permission.</s>An ex-nurse in Germany has admitted at the start of his trial that he murdered 100 patients, making him one of the world’s most prolific serial killers.

Detectives say Niels Högel, 41, administered fatal doses of medication to the people in his care at two hospitals in northern Germany.

His motive, prosecutors say, was to impress colleagues by resuscitating the very patients he had attacked.

Högel is already serving a life term for six deaths while in his care.

He is now said to have killed 36 patients in Oldenburg and 64 in nearby Delmenhorst between 1999 and 2005.

When asked by the judge in the Oldenburg court if the charges against him were true, the 41-year-old confessed to “more or less” all of them.

The current trial, which started with a minute’s silence for the victims, is expected to last until May. It follows years of toxicology tests on 130 sets of exhumed remains.

The BBC’s Jenny Hill in Berlin says the case is sensitive for German health authorities which are accused by relatives of turning a blind eye to Högel’s murderous activity.

Investigators say he may have killed even more but potential victims have been cremated.

Christian Marbach, a spokesperson for relatives, said it was a scandal the ex-nurse had been allowed to kill with impunity for years without officials intervening.

“We fought for four years for this trial and expect Högel is sentenced for another 100 murders,” said Mr Marbach, whose grandfather was killed by Högel.

“I hope he will be found guilty on each count so that the loved ones can finally find some closure,” said Petra Klein, who runs a victims’ support group.

Relatives of his alleged victims were expected to pack the court but journalists in the room noted many empty seats in reserved rows.

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German convicted serial killer and former nurse Niels Högel begins his third trial (previous convictions were in 2008 and 2015), this time in Oldenburg, for additional patient murders by administering fatal doses of medication between 1999–2005 which may include his assignment as one of Germany's worst serial killers since World War II. At the beginning of the trial, Högel confesses to the murder of 100 of his patients.