Ep. 30: I Need a Hero?

About this episode

The episode explores the chilling case of Niels Högel, a nurse who induced cardiac arrests in patients, leading to a significant death toll and systemic failures in accountability.

He was a nurse. He was trusted with the most vulnerable patients in intensive care. And somewhere along the way, the line between saving lives and ending them disappeared entirely. Niels Högel worked the cardiac wards of two hospitals in northern Germany, where deaths under his watch climbed to alarming rates -- rates that colleagues noticed, whispered about, and ultimately failed to stop. For years, he induced cardiac arrests in his patients just to step in and play the hero. Some survived. Many didn't. By the time investigators finished exhuming bodies from 67 cemeteries across three countries, the confirmed death toll had reached 85 -- with suspicions stretching to 300 or more. This week, Andrea and Crystal are digging into one of the most chilling cases in modern medical history: a killer hidden in plain sight, the colleagues who saw the warning signs, and a system that handed him glowing reference letters instead of accountability.

People in this episode

Hosts: Andrea, Crystal

Topics covered

• true crime
• medical malpractice
• serial killer
• nursing
• hospital deaths
• investigation

Keywords

• Niels Högel
• nurse
• cardiac arrest
• medical history
• true crime
• investigation
• hospital
• Germany

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