Guard at Spanish nursing home confesses to 11 murders

Olot (Spain), Dec 1 (IANS/EFE) A weekend security guard at a nursing home in this northeastern Spanish town, who was arrested last month for the murders of three residents, has confessed to causing the deaths of 11 people in the facility.

Joan Vila, 45, has been in the psychiatric wing of a prison since admitting that he poisoned three elderly residents of the home during the period of Oct 12-17.

He went before a judge for a second time Tuesday at his own request, telling the court that he “helped” eight other residents to die.

Six of the victims succumbed to a lethal combination of medications and two others were given insulin overdoses, while the three latest fatalities were forced to drink bleach, Vila testified.

He did not say why he resorted to such a cruel method for the most recent killings.

The murders were “compassionate” acts, Vila said, insisting that he was very fond of his victims.

Vila’s second court appearance followed the exhumation of eight residents of the home who died during his shifts on weekends or holidays.

Vila has been working weekends at the nursing home in Olot for the last five years, and none of the staff or residents ever noticed anything suspicious in his behaviour, the facility’s director said.

–IANS/EFE