The Nykøbing Falster Hospital Patient Case

Between 2012 and 2015, a series of suspicious patient episodes at Nykøbing Falster Hospital led investigators to nurse Christina Aistrup Hansen. The case became nationally prominent because the legal outcome changed substantially on appeal: murder convictions were not upheld, while four attempted manslaughter convictions were.

The hospital investigation

Hansen worked as a nurse at Nykøbing Falster Hospital in southern Denmark. Colleagues raised concerns about unusual emergencies and medication patterns during some of her shifts. She was arrested in March 2015 and later prosecuted over several patient incidents.

The prosecution alleged that she had deliberately administered morphine and diazepam in quantities that were not part of legitimate treatment. The case relied heavily on medical evidence, witness testimony and the distinction between proving harmful administration and proving that a particular dose caused a patient's death.

The first-instance verdict

In June 2016, the district court convicted Hansen of murdering three elderly patients and attempting to kill a fourth. She received a life sentence and lost her authorization to work as a nurse.

That verdict was appealed. It is important not to treat the first-instance murder findings as the final legal conclusion, because the appellate court later changed the convictions on the central issue of causation.

Eastern High Court appeal

In May 2017, the Eastern High Court concluded that it had not been proven beyond the required standard that Hansen's administrations of morphine and sedatives caused the deaths of the three deceased patients. Medical evidence did not allow the causes of death to be stated with sufficient certainty.

At the same time, the High Court accepted that Hansen had deliberately administered dangerous medication without a legitimate treatment purpose and that she had accepted the possibility that the patients could die. The court therefore convicted her of four counts of attempted manslaughter, including the case of the patient who survived.

Sentence

On May 18, 2017, the Eastern High Court sentenced Hansen to 12 years in prison. The appellate judgment replaced the earlier life sentence tied to the murder convictions.

This is why the case should not be summarized as “a nurse convicted of three murders” without qualification. The final appellate outcome was different: the homicide causation was not proven, while four attempted manslaughters were adjudicated.

Timeline

1. 2012–2015
   Patient incidents occur

   Suspicious medication-related emergencies and deaths at Nykøbing Falster Hospital later become the subject of a criminal investigation.

2. March 1, 2015
   Hansen is arrested

   The nurse is detained as investigators examine patient cases from the hospital.

3. June 24, 2016
   First-instance life sentence

   The district court convicts Hansen of three murders and one attempted murder and imposes life imprisonment.

4. May 17, 2017
   High Court changes the legal findings

   The Eastern High Court finds the causes of the three deaths insufficiently proven and convicts Hansen of four attempted manslaughters instead.

5. May 18, 2017
   Twelve-year sentence imposed

   The Eastern High Court sentences Hansen to 12 years in prison.

Current status

The case is solved and adjudicated as four attempted manslaughters. The appellate court did not uphold murder convictions for the three deceased patients because causation could not be established with the certainty required for those homicide convictions.