German doctor on trial, 'Angel of Death' denies killing patients

Dr. Mechthild Bach is charged with 13 counts of manslaughter. Between 2001 and 2003, 13 of her cancer patients received "lethal doses of morphine and Valium." Bach contends that she is wrongly accused. If convicted, she could face life in prison.

Mechthild Bach, dubbed the "Angel of Death," has denied the charges against her. Bach, 59, is charged with 13 counts of manslaughter. The German doctor's trial began on Oct. 21 in Hanover, Germany. Bach denied killing 13 cancer patients under her care. According to the National Post, a tearful Bach told the court:

I did not bring about the death of any of my patients, nor wish it. They were all in the final phase of life and had "a choice of treatment right up to the end. I am wrongly accused and resolutely challenge these accusations. The time of death was neither caused nor accelerated by my actions ... Accusations of conscious or deliberate killing lack any basis in fact.

Prosecutors say the acts of manslaughter were committed between 2001 and 2003 at the Paracelsus-Klinik, a hospital in Hanover. The patients' ages ranged from 52 to 96. According to prosecutors, the patients "were sick but none was at death's door" reports the National Post. According to the National Post, Dr. Bach "is accused of stopping their proper drug regimen, injecting them instead with lethal doses of morphine and Valium without proper consultation." The trial is expected to last for a number of months, reports the BBC. If convicted, "Dr Bach faces a maximum sentence of life in prison." This is the second time that Dr. Bach has stood trial. The first trial, in 2008, was halted when one of the judges became ill. Investigations of another doctor at Paracelsus-Klinik by a health insurance provider led to the discovery of the Bach case, reports the National Post.