15 Oct 2014

Italian ‘killer nurse’ smiles as she enters court

This is the smiling face of an Italian nurse accused of killing a patient and suspected of killing another 37.

Daniela Poggiali, 42, who was arrested at the weekend on suspicion of killing an elderly patient, was led handcuffed by police as she entered a courthouse in nearby Ravenna.

Prosecutors say they are looking into further suspicious deaths at the hospital and believe they have been caused by the victims being injected by an intravenous dose of potassium. Potassium causes the heart to stop beating and leaves the blood stream several days after being administered and is difficult to trace.

‘Photographs’

According to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Ms Poggiali posed alongside the body with her thumbs up.

She also wrote under the photograph “brrr… mmm… life and death… mmmmmm” the newspaper said.

The colleague who was said to have taken the pictures is quoted in saying: “Ms Poggiali was especially euphoric [that day], she asked me to take a picture next to the body. I was afraid.”

‘Suspicious deaths’

The nurse has denied all accusations and has said she is a victim of a plot against her.

Local media are running gruesome tales from co-workers at the hospital, citing that Ms Poggiali had her own way of dealing with annoying patients and pushy relatives.

Billboards carrying the local newspaper headlines read: “Suspicious deaths, too much silence, investigation begins” and “Nurse in prison, friends speak.”