A 38-year old Polish medical worker is facing trial on murder charges. The man, named Grzegorz Stanislaw W by the prosecutors, has been accused of murdering 6 patients who were under his care, using insulin overdose.
He has also been accused of three attempted murders and of multiple counts of stealing from his patients. The trial was initiated on Tuesday in Germany and is scheduled to last in May, next year, reported AFP.
Accused of murdering 6 patients under his care
The man worked for 69 families, between April 2017 and February 2018, leading to media speculation that more victims could be found. His victims were in different parts of Germany from Bavaria in the south to Hanover in the north.
Prosecutors said the man hated his job and committed one of the murders in order to avoid being sacked. According to prosecutors, he told his psychiatrist in prison that he was "really sorry" and felt remorse. The court also heard that he had been convicted of fraud in Poland and was in prison between 2008 and 2014.
Insulin overdose in diabetics and non-diabetics leads to hypoglycemic coma which can have varied outcomes including death. He had access to insulin as he was himself a diabetic-unlike his patients.
Biggest serial killing case in Germany
The case brought back memories of the German nurse, Niels Hoegel who was convicted earlier this year, of murdering 85 of his patients. The man, now 41, was convicted of murdering patients with medicine overdoses, between 2000 and 2005. The case that was called "unprecedented" in German history is the biggest serial killing case in Germany's post-war history.
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. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment, in the trial earlier this year.
