Roger Andermatt

Case overview

Roger Andermatt was a Swiss nurse who was sentenced to life in prison on January 27, 2005 for murdering 22 nursing home patients. He was also found guilty of attempting to murder five other elderly patients.

Andermatt was dubbed the “Angel of Death” by local media.

Timeline

• 1995 — Andermatt began working at nursing homes where he later killed patients.
• 2001 — Andermatt was arrested after suspicious deaths in a nursing home; he later confessed to additional killings.
• June 2001 — Andermatt was arrested following a suspicious death in a nursing home in Lucerne.
• September 11, 2001 — Andermatt confessed to killing 27 elderly patients over a six-year period.
• January 28, 2004 — A criminal investigation concluded that a male nurse did kill 24 elderly care home patients.
• January 27, 2005 — The Lucerne criminal court sentenced Andermatt to life in prison.

Background

Andermatt was 36 years old when sentenced.

Most of the victims were women between 66 and 95, though victims were described more broadly as elderly patients aged between 66 and 95. Many victims suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and needed high levels of care. The killings occurred at several nursing homes where he worked between 1995 and 2001.

At the time of his arrest, Swiss media identified the nurse as Roger Andermatt, a Swiss citizen who moved to Germany after his parents’ divorce, but returned to Switzerland in 1990 and trained as a nurse assistant.

The offence

Andermatt killed nursing home patients using lethal injections or by smothering them with plastic bags at several nursing homes where he worked between 1995 and 2001.

In the investigation, officials said he used tranquilisers or smothering them with a plastic bag or cloth.

A court also found him guilty of attempting to murder five other elderly patients.

During the investigation and related reporting, some deaths were classified as assisted suicides because authorities said they could not establish whether his actions were the cause of death in those cases.

Investigation

A criminal investigation concluded that Andermatt had killed patients at several nursing homes in central Switzerland between 1995 and 2001.

Officials stated that in some cases he was overwhelmed by caring for people involved and, in some cases, he felt relieved after the person had died.

Lucerne officials issued a statement at the time of the investigation, saying:

"The accused gave as his motive acting out of sympathy, compassion, empathy and salvation on the one hand and also cited total overload and relief for himself and the (nursing) team on the other hand."

A separate statement by officials in Lucerne, where the deaths occurred between 1995 and 2001, also said:

Police say all of the killings took place between September 1995 and June this year and were carried out in retirement homes in the Lucerne, Obwalden and Schwyz districts.

The criminal investigation later concluded that he killed 24 elderly care home patients, and Andermatt admitted carrying out the killings out of sympathy or pity. The victims were described as coming from five care homes in the region.

Arrest

Andermatt was arrested in June 2001 following a suspicious death in a nursing home in Lucerne.

He confessed to nine deaths in that home alone.

Confessions and admissions

On September 11, 2001, officials said that Andermatt confessed to killing 27 elderly patients over a six-year period. The confession process was described as starting with an initial admission of responsibility for nine deaths and then confessing to a further 18 killings.

The report described that:

• Twelve of the killings were reported to have taken place in a home for the elderly in the central district of Obwalden.
• Andermatt was suspected in three attempted murders and three assisted suicides.
• Nine patients were killed with lethal doses of medication.
• Eight patients were smothered with a plastic bag or a cloth.
• 10 patients were killed using a combination of drugs and smothering.

Andermatt claimed he acted out of sympathy for the patients’ suffering.

When describing his motive, the magistrate stated:

"As far as his motive goes, he is sticking to his previous comments that he acted out of sympathy, compassion, empathy and salvation of the people involved."

The magistrate added:

"On the other hand, he also acknowledged that in several cases he had been overwhelmed by caring for the people involved. He added that in some cases he felt relieved, somehow liberated, after the person had died."

Mental health tests were to be carried out before the investigation continued.

Trial

The Lucerne criminal court in central Switzerland issued the sentence on January 27, 2005. The sentence was longer than the 17 years demanded by the prosecutor.

At the time of sentencing, it was described that Andermatt killed the patients, most of them women between 66 and 95, with lethal injections or by smothering them with plastic bags at several nursing homes where he worked between 1995 and 2001.

He was said to have cooperated with the investigation and even admitted further crimes for which there was no proof.

Andermatt said he acted from compassion for his ailing victims and wanted to end their suffering, and also because he and his nursing colleagues were severely overburdened.

Sentencing

On January 27, 2005, the Lucerne criminal court sentenced Roger Andermatt to life in prison.

He would spend a minimum of 15 years in jail.

The court ordered him to pay 75,000 Swiss francs (SFr75,000) or $63,000 compensation to relatives of four victims and ordered court costs of $161,000 (SFr191,000).

Appeals

No appeals information was included.

Outcome

Andermatt was found guilty of murdering 22 nursing home patients and attempting to murder five other elderly patients, and he was sentenced to life in prison on January 27, 2005.

At least three deaths were formally classified as assisted suicides because authorities said they could not establish whether his actions were the cause of death in those cases.

He was sentenced over the deaths of 22, even though he had admitted responsibility for 27 killings in total.