Their victims were defenseless. Ines R. (52) killed four people with disabilities. For this, the nurse was brought to trial at the Potsdam Regional Court in Germany. The 52-year-old was found guilty of four murders and three attempted murders on Wednesday. For this, the death nurse has to go to prison for 15 years.
The conviction was also made for dangerous bodily harm and mistreatment of wards that had been committed as a unit of crime. The judges also determined placement in a psychiatric clinic.
The court considered it proven that Ines R. had insidiously killed four people with disabilities – two women and two men between the ages of 31 and 56 – in the Oberlinhaus in Potsdam on April 28. A 43-year-old resident of the facility survived with serious injuries thanks to emergency surgery.
“I’m really sorry”
With its judgment, the court complied with the public prosecutor’s request in full. In her plea last week, public prosecutor Maria Stiller called the act “abysmally evil” and called for 15 years’ imprisonment, the accused to be placed in a psychiatric clinic and a lifelong professional ban.
R.’s lawyer had not made a specific request, but asked the court to recognize that his client was completely incapable of guilt. According to the defense attorney, R. “found himself in a tunnel” and was unable to steer himself. Following the pleadings, the defendant expressed regret about the crime. Inwardly, she couldn’t believe she had done such a thing. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
Husband was interviewed
The victims of the act were found in Thusnelda-von-Saldern-Haus in Potsdam, an institution of the social service provider Oberlinhaus. Police discovered the dead in various rooms after an emergency call.
R. was arrested immediately after the crime on strong suspicion. She is now housed in a psychiatric facility. In the trial that began in November, colleagues from R., investigating police officers and the accused’s husband testified. (AFP / jmh)