Niels Högel

Niels Högel (born 30 December 1976) is a German serial killer and former nurse who was sentenced to life imprisonment, initially for the murders of six patients, and later convicted of a total of eighty-five murders.

After completing his vocational training in 1997 at the Sankt-Willehad-Hospital, Högel became a nurse and continued working there.

From 1999 onwards, Högel was employed at the Oldenburg Clinic, stationed in its cardiac surgery intensive care unit, Ward 211.

In August 2001, doctors and medical orderlies at the hospital held a meeting, which Högel attended, discussing an unusual spike in both resuscitations and deaths during the preceding months.

Fifty-eight percent of these incidents were found to have occurred while Högel was on duty.

After the meeting, Högel called in sick for the duration of three weeks; during that time, only two patients in Ward 211 had died, significantly fewer than had prior to his sick leave.

Years later, after having been apprehended by police, Högel admitted that, at the time of the meeting, he had thought he had been found out.

Under pressure by Ward 211's head physician, Högel was transferred to the anaesthesiology ward in 2001.

Soon the anaesthesiology ward's head physician became suspicious at how Högel was frequently present in emergency situations.

In September 2002, the Oldenburg Clinic's head physician confronted Högel after multiple patients under his care had been found in life-threatening conditions for seemingly inexplicable reasons.

It was suggested that he either resign his position at the Clinic and continue to receive full wages for another three months, or transfer to the Clinic's logistics unit where he would assist moving patients throughout the hospital.

On 10 October 2002, Högel received a reference letter issued by the Oldenburg Clinic's director of nursing.

Therein, she testified to Högel's "circumspect, diligent and autonomous" work ethic, as well as to him having acted "prudently and in an objectively correct manner in critical situations".

She also praised his "devotedness" and "cooperative conduct".

The letter concluded with an overall assessment of Högel having completed assigned tasks "to the utmost satisfaction".

In December 2002, Högel transferred to the Delmenhorst Clinic, where emergencies and fatalities, mostly due to arrhythmia or sudden decreases in blood pressure, began spiking whilst Högel was on duty.

This led to some of Högel's coworkers distancing themselves from him.

In later court proceedings, it was reported that Högel had initially been held in high regard in Delmenhorst until suspicions against him began to arise.

His superiors allegedly did not act on these suspicions, even when four empty vials of gilurytmal (ajmaline) surfaced in Högel's ward, in spite of no doctor having prescribed any such medication at the time.

The extensive police investigation that followed these allegations examined all deaths at the hospital between 2003 and 2005, revealing that the number of deaths at the Delmenhorst Clinic had doubled during Högel's employment there.

Högel married in 2004.

In July 2004, his daughter was born.

To "sustain this euphoria, this feeling of happiness" he admitted later to have injected a severely ill intensive care patient with a toxic agent during his first night on duty after her birth.

Högel had a history of alcohol abuse and analgesic abuse.

On 22 June 2005, colleagues caught Högel intentionally manipulating a patient's syringe pump to improperly administer ajmaline.

He was arrested in the summer of 2005.

The June 2005 incident prompted Delmenhorst police to open an investigation into Högel.

Multiple coworkers of Högel's at Delmenhorst came forward to voice their suspicions that he was behind numerous complications, resuscitations and unexplained deaths at their hospital.

In 2005, 73% of deaths could be connected to Högel's work schedule.

These findings were subsequently forwarded to the Oldenburg district attorney's office.

In December 2006, adjudicating the 22 June 2005 incident, the Landgericht Oldenburg (German regional court) sentenced Högel to five years in prison and an employment ban of equal length for attempted voluntary manslaughter.

In a 2019 forensic psychiatric evaluation he has been described as having a combined personality disorder, being narcisstic, dissocial and compulsive.

He had a strong need for recognition up to being histrionic, with a desire for excitement, thrill, action and a remarkable lack of empathy.

He had neither feelings of guilt nor shame nor remorse, and the chances of a successful therapy were "very, very low".

Estimates of Högel's alleged victim count have increased since his first conviction; as of 2020, he was believed to have claimed 300 victims over fifteen years, making him the most prolific serial killer in the history of peacetime Germany.

Niels Högel was born in the coastal town of Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, in West Germany.

His father worked as a nurse at the Sankt-Willehad-Hospital in Wilhelmshaven.

His mother worked as a paralegal; he has an older sister.

According to Högel, he had a sheltered or "protected" childhood and was not exposed to violence at home.

His grandmother also worked as a nurse.