Prosecutor believes confessions by patient murderer Niels Högel to be credible

With the pleading of the public prosecutor's office, the murder trial against Niels Högel enters the decisive phase after almost seven months. From the point of view of the prosecution authority, the ex-nurse has only made a very limited contribution to clarifying the 100 murders he has been accused of.

The accused had used a model of lies, denied proceedings and only with increasing burden of proof gradually granted acts, said prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlmann at the district court Oldenburg to kick off their plea. But there are no fundamental doubts about the credibility of Högel's confessions.

Högel had granted 43 of the 100 acts in the process and denied five. According to the others, he could not remember the rest. He did not rule out killing these patients.

DPA

Attorney General Daniela Schiereck-Bohlmann: "Only the statement 'greatest serial killer of history' is not enough to judge him"

Schiereck-Bohlmann wanted to go into each individual case in their presumably several-hour plea. "But the statement 'greatest serial killer of history' is not enough to convict him," said the chief prosecutor also with a view to the media coverage.

The 42-year-old Högel has since the end of October 2018 before the court answer. He is said to have injected his 34 to 96-year-old victims in the years 2000 to 2005 at the clinics Oldenburg and Delmenhorst with various drugs to death. Because of the death of six patients at the Delmenhorst intensive care unit, he had already been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015.

"We expect a very clear, clear and strong plea from the prosecutor," said the spokesman for the victims, Christian Marbach. "I hope he never gets out of jail." Marbach's grandfather is one of the victims whose death Högel had to answer for in court.

Marbach was disappointed with the process so far at the Oldenburg district court. Unlike Högel had announced, this has not taken the opportunity to contribute to the education and to provide the relatives clarity.

On Thursday, Gaby Lübben will be the first co-plaintiff's representative to give her closing speech. In addition to the public prosecutor's office, a total of 17 auxiliary plaintiffs and the two defenders Högels are entitled to appeal. The verdict is expected on June 6th.