KEMPTEN, Germany, July 30 (AFP) - A German male nurse has admitted killing 10 seriously ill elderly patients by injection, saying he did so to stop their suffering, prosecutors and police in the southern town of Kempten said Friday.
The 25-year-old told investigators he had acted out of "compassion" because he wanted to relieve their pain.
Arrested Thursday, he has confessed to killing six women and four men, all aged between 60 and 89, between March and June last year.
Police caught up with him after they were called in to investigate the theft over a long period of time of medication, including a substance which slows the heartbeat and which can, if given in sufficient doses, lead to death.
When they went to his house they found syringes from the hospital where he worked.
"What has happened is incomprehensible," said Andreas Ruland, head of the clinic.