Irene Becker (born 1952) is a German nurse, and

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, who killed at least 5 people by administering them drugs while working at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

clinic. In the media, she was given nicknames like the Angel of Death from Charité and Sister Death. Becker, who was considered a dutiful nurse, had previously worked as a nurse in an intensive care unit for 35 years. Her deeds were discovered after a fellow nurse found a discarded ampoule in the hospital garbage, subsequently informing the management of her suspicions about the exceptionally high death rate in the ward. Becker was sentenced on June 29, 2007 by the

Landgericht Berlin The Landgericht Berlin is a regional court in Berlin, divided into two divisions for civil and criminal cases. In the German court hierarchy, it is above the eleven local courts (Amtsgerichte) of the city and below the Kammergericht, which is the ...

for murder in five out of eight cases, and given

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. The court considered that the murderous trait of the other base motives was fulfillment and considered that the nurse became obsessed with power while murdering the patients. On appeal from the defense, the

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

changed the guilty verdict to triple homicide and two counts of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

, but that did not change the sentence. A particular severity of guilt was not established. Thus, the remainder of the sentence can be suspended after serving out 15 years (counting from her arrest in October 2006), i.e. from late 2021 onwards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Irene 1952 births 21st-century German criminals 21st-century German women Charité German female serial killers German nurses German women nurses Living people Medical serial killers People convicted of murder by Germany Poisoners Prisoners and detainees of Germany

See also

References