Oldenburg: A German nurse believed to be the most prolific serial killer in the nation's post-war history was handed a life sentence on Thursday for killing 85 patients in his care. The court called Niels Hoegel's murders "incomprehensible" and acknowledged the trial left many families with painful unanswered questions.

Hoegel, 42, killed patients selected at random with lethal injections between 2000 and 2005, when he was caught. Hoegel has already spent a decade in prison following a previous life sentence he received for six other murders.