A Bologna appeals court on Friday
overturned the conviction of former nurse Daniela Poggiali for
killing a 78-year-old patient at Lugo near Ravenna in
northeastern Italy.
A lower court found Poggiali, 45, guilty of giving the woman
a lethal dose of potassium, and handed down a life sentence.
The appeals court said Poggiali did not commit the crime and
ordered her to be freed immediately.
She had been in custody since October 2014, when she was
arrested in connection with 11 other suspicious deaths at the
hospital in Lugo, having already been placed under investigation
for the sudden death of the 78-year-old woman on April 8.
The latter patient had entered the hospital with a minor
ailment and died suddenly with suspiciously high blood levels of
potassium, which can provoke cardiac arrest.
It can also be difficult to trace because it disappears
from the body just hours after death.
That case triggered suspicions and led authorities to comb
through data from other deaths that occurred when Poggiali was
working, leading them to open investigations into 38 deaths.
Police said they suspect the accused became frustrated with
patients that needed extra care or had pushy relatives.
Poggiali still faces possible criminal action over the other
deaths.
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