A Japanese nurse who reportedly killed three of her patients by putting antiseptic in their IV drips at a hospital in 2016 has been sentenced to life in prison.
Ayumi Kuboki, 34, has been accused of killing at least three patients in September 2016 at Oguchi Hospital in Yokohama city near Tokyo by injecting antiseptic solutions into their IV drip bags. She reportedly orchestrated the deaths in such a way that the patients would die during work shifts that weren't hers, the Independent reported.
When Kuboki was asked about her motive behind the murders, she allegedly admitted that she poisoned her patients in order to avoid the situation of having to explain their deaths to their bereaved relatives herself.
“In order to avoid being accused by family members if patients died during my work hours, I made it so they would die when I was off duty,” Kuboki said during a court hearing.
Kuboki was arrested in July 2018 after officers started looking into the death of an 88-year-old patient named Sozo Nishikawa, who suspiciously died in her care. When the authorities tested the deceased woman's blood, the results showed alarmingly high concentrations of a common antiseptic, the Japan Times reported.
After Kuboki was interrogated, the nurse admitted to purposely killing a handful of other patients who were under her watch in 2016 including two more inpatients named Asae Okitsu, 8, and Nobuo Yamaki, 88.
The prosecutors demanded that Kuboki should be slapped with the death penalty. They said that even though Kuboki exhibited traits of autism spectrum disorder, it did not affect her decision-making and ability to kill terminally ill patients in the hospital.
The Yokohama District Court in Japan spared Kuboki of the death penalty and handed her a life sentence on Tuesday, Nov. 9, saying that she had shown remorse for the murders.
“She understands the huge gravity of the crimes, and even said in her final statement she wants to make amends with her own death,” Judge Kazunori Karei said.
“By having her face the weight of her guilt for the rest of her life, it is fair to have her back on the right track in life,” Karei added.
Meanwhile, the hospital where the murders took place has been closed since 2019.
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