Oldenburg: Niels Högel, a former nurse in northern Germany has been sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for killing 85 patients at two hospitals, reports stated. He was previously convicted of two murders and two attempted murders in 2015.

Under his care, Högel provided lethal portions of heart medication to patients between the years 1999 and 2005. In order to impress his colleagues, he would then rush to revive them. However, most of his attempts resulted in failures. Högel had confessed to 55 murders and the court in Oldenburg convicted him of 85, German media reported.

He is considered to be one of Germany’s most notorious murderers. 

It is assumed that most of the murders took place in the northern cities of Delmenhorst and Oldenburg.  Data at the Oldenburg hospital revealed that the rate of death and resuscitations increased during his work shifts. A BBC report of 2015 stated that a psychiatric examiner told the court in nearby Oldenburg that he had confessed to murdering as many as 30 patients. "I would like to sincerely apologize for everything I did to you over the course of years," he said while expressing regrets about his ‘terrible acts’.