Life sentence for nurse becomes 'not guilty'

A nurse sentenced for life for murder is about to have her sentence overturned, making her case one of the worst miscarriages of justice in Dutch legal history.

Looking nervous and twiddling with her fingers, Lucia de B. (46) entered Arnhem court on Wednesday morning. Since she was released in April 2008, she has lived at home. For this latest hearing of her case, she must once again sit in the dock. At noon she heard the prosecutor demand a not guilty verdict. She merely cast a penetrating look at her lawyers.

The controversial case against the nurse from The Hague has taken over eight years. She was sentenced to life in 2006 for murdering seven patients and attempting to murder three more. She has spent six years in jail. If the court finds her not guilty, as expected, when it gives its verdict on April 14, the case will go down as one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in Dutch legal history.

With a soft but clear voice, Lucia de B. told the court about her treatment of patients under her care between 1997 and 2001. Then it was the turn of toxicologist Jan Meulenbelt who had investigated a number of the suspicious deaths on behalf of the court. "The judges understand nothing about medical cases," sighed onlooker, Metta de Noo, during a break. She is the hospital doctor who has been trying to get the case reopened for years. "Judges should get a science degree before studying law."

Death of a baby

The case began with the death of a five-month old baby girl who was under De B.'s care. Although the baby was born with abnormalities and a poor chance of survival, her death was considered unnatural. A paediatrician sounded the alarm and . Within a week, De B. was suspended. An investigation into the death also found other unexplained deaths of patients, many of whom were either very old or very sick, and that De B. was on duty remarkably often when someone died.

The advocate general said during the hearing it was "remarkable" that innocent incidents were later declared suspicious and laid at De B.'s door.

Following an investigation by toxicologists at De B’s original trial, the public prosecutor said it had been proven that De B. had poisoned the baby with an overdose of the heart medicine digoxin. At Wednesday's hearing, toxicologist Meulenbelt repeated said this was not true: the digoxin found in the body of the five-month old baby "absolutely could not" have caused her death.

A dark compulsion

And yet the The Hague court had sentenced De B. to life imprisonment. The evidence for two "murders" was used as a linking device. If De B. had killed these patients, then she could have killed the rest, the court then reasoned. A crucial piece of evidence was a diary entry on the day one of the patients died in which she wrote of "giving in" to her compulsion. According to the prosecutors, this referred to her compulsion to kill. But she has always maintained it was her love of tarot cards.

Despite the controversial evidence, the sentence remains in force. At least until April 14.