[Al Jazeera] A former German nurse serving a life sentence for murdering patients by injecting them with a deadly medication is suspected of killing 84 other people, according to police.If convicted, the man identified only as Niels H. under reporting rules, would be one of the worst serial killers in the country's criminal history.
A court order to exhume scores of former patients treated by the suspect found traces of the medication in 84 cases, Johann Kuehme the police chief in the northern German city of Oldenburg told a press conference on Monday.
Kuehme said police believe that the numbers of deaths could be even higher. However, many of the patients who died have since been cremated.
In past hearings, the nurse, now aged 40, admitted deliberately injecting patients at two clinics in northern Germany with deadly drugs and then trying to revive them in order to play the hero, German media said.
'Murders could have been prevented'
An Oldenburg court sentenced H to life in prison in February 2015 on two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and causing bodily harm to patients.
During his trial in 2015, the former nurse also confessed to murdering more patients during his career.
His confession prompted police to establish a special commission to investigate the deaths at two clinics where he worked - in Oldenburg and the nearby town of Delmenhorst.