Czech Nurse Suspected in 11 Patient Deaths

A 30-year-old male nurse confessed to killing 11 patients in a western Czech hospital by injecting them with lethal doses of improper medicines, doctors said.

Petr Zelenka confessed to killing the patients in an intensive care ward in the Havlickuv Brod hospital, 60 miles southeast of Prague from May to September, Prague Radio reported Tuesday.

A doctors’ commission was formed in December after police charged Zelenka with killing eight patients. The commission investigated 20 suspicious deaths and alleged the male nurse deliberately gave blood thinners to 10 bed-ridden patients and one patient was given a lethal dose of insulin.

If convicted, Zelenka faces life imprisonment. His defense lawyers claim he is mentally ill, the report said.