Cops arrested a nurse in northeastern Italy in connection with the deaths of as many as 38 patients, whom she might have killed because she found them — or their relatives — annoying, officials said.
Police have the cellphone of Daniela Poggiali, 42, which included a photo she snapped a few months ago of her giving a thumbs up next to a patient who had died moments before, according to the Corriere di Bologna newspaper.
“I can assure you in that all my professional years of seeing shocking photos, there were few such as these,” prosecutor Alessandro Mancini said.
Poggiali, who lives in the town of Lugo, was taken into custody over the weekend and booked for the alleged slaying of 78-year-old patient Rosa Calderoni, who died from an injection of potassium.
Calderoni had been admitted to the hospital with a routine illness before she died unexpectedly. Tests showed she died with a high amount of potassium, which can provoke cardiac arrest, in his bloodstream, according to the Central European News.
Her death triggered an investigation, which found that 38 others had died mysteriously while Poggiali was on duty, the news agency reported.
One of Poggiali’s fellow nurses described her as a “cold person but always eager to work,” according to CEN.
Another one of Poggiali’s colleagues said the accused nurse was once reported for giving powerful laxatives to patients at the end of her shift to make work tougher for nurses working after her.