Murder attempt on preemie ward

A former pediatric nurse has been sentenced to life imprisonment for, among other things, attempted murder. The district court Marburg spoke the 30-year-old guilty, three premature girls medically not prescribed sedatives and anesthetics administered and thus brought in part to mortal danger - out of need.

The defendant had accepted the death of two children "for the sake of self-presentation," said the presiding judge. In the courtroom arrest warrant was due to flight.

The woman had worked at the preterm station of the Marburg University Hospital. According to the court, the deeds occurred between December 2015 and February 2016. Motive: The defendant, who was otherwise struck with average or weak performance, wanted to profile himself as a rescuer.

The parents of the affected babies reacted with relief to the verdict. "For this heinous act, what she did to the children, so someone behind bars," said a mother. While two children survived the drug poisoning, their daughter Leni died - from the point of view of the court, however, on another cause. Although she was disappointed that the judges in her case did not go out of murder, but "infinitely happy" about the verdict.

"Russian roulette played with the life of the child"

The judges considered the first act an attempted dangerous assault, even though little Leni died. There was no correlation between the - in this case moderate - medication and the death of the baby can be detected, said the judge. "It was a fateful course."

The defendant sought, according to the court's conviction, a second small victim, then a third one. This girl is said to have given the 30-year-old several times medication, in "highly toxic" doses. She had "deliberately played Russian roulette with the child's life," said the presiding judge. The accused had hoped that the deeds would create a "resuscitation situation" in which she could excel as an excellent nurse. Or in the case of failure as a consolation for mourning parents.

Colleagues became suspicious

The court attested to the woman's narcissistic features. The play in the deeds as well as their desire to recognize. The 30-year-old thus comes from a family of academics, her father is a pediatrician, but with her it was "only" enough for a nurse. During her work at the preemie ward, she was also struck with mistakes.

The defendant had been silent during the ten-month trial on allegations that included dangerous bodily harm and mistreatment of wards. The defense had pleaded for acquittal and noted that more people would come as offenders in question. In addition, it is not excluded that the 30-year-old victim of a conspiracy could have become. The court considered this outrageous and emphasized that in all incidents the defendant had been the responsible night nurse. There are also many other clues that burdened them.

Colleagues of the defendants had become suspicious in the end. The comprehensive investigation of the incidents was for the hospital "from the first suspicion of the highest priority," said the hospital. "That's why we've always been fully supportive of police and prosecutorial investigations."