December 30, 1976 - Niels Högel
A former nurse working in German hospital intensive care units, Högel exploited the institutional trust placed in medical professionals to carry out killings that went undetected for years, in part because the deaths occurred in clinical settings where mortality was already expected. The scale of what investigators eventually uncovered — spanning multiple facilities and possibly reaching 300 victims — reflects both the duration of his access and the systemic failures that allowed him to continue. His case prompted significant reforms to oversight practices in German healthcare and remains a reference point in discussions of how professional environments can inadvertently shield sustained harm.
From Wikipedia
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. Estimates of Högel's alleged victim count have increased since his first conviction; as of 2020, he was believed to have claimed 300 victims in just over five years, making him the most prolific serial killer in the history of peacetime Germany, and possibly the world.
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