“Further harm to others cannot be ruled out”
A man kills a fellow patient in an intensive care unit
Updated 11/10/2025 – 17:44Reading time: 1 minute.
A man with a severe alcohol addiction was taken to the intensive care unit. There, in a state of delirium, he was working on a ventilator for a 75-year-old man.
Murder investigation at Cologne hospital: A 32-year-old man is accused of murdering his 75-year-old co-patient. He is said to have committed the crime on Saturday night, police said Monday.
The two men lay next to each other in the intensive care unit. Shortly after midnight, the 32-year-old man, according to officials, woke up to “interact with a fellow patient’s ventilator.”
He then left the room but was restrained by staff. The 75-year-old man died and no resuscitation efforts could save him.
Based on previous investigations, the youngest of the two men may have been the perpetrator because of his addiction. Senior public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer told t-online that alcoholic patients had been hospitalized for days after acute alcohol poisoning. The patient becomes delirious. This condition, which usually occurs two to four days after the last alcohol consumption, is potentially life-threatening. Symptoms include sweating, heart palpitations, and shaking. Hallucinations are not uncommon. Seizures may also occur.
The defendant has had his mental examination by an expert. The result: The 32 year old man could have killed while incapacitated. Further threats to other parties cannot be ruled out, he said.
On Sunday, at the request of the public prosecutor, the Cologne district court ordered the defendant to be temporarily placed in a rehabilitation center. The police have formed a hit squad.
