Petr Zelenka (serial killer)

Petr Zelenka (born August 21, 1976) is a Czech serial killer who murdered seven patients and attempted to murder ten others at the Havlickuv Brod Hospital in the Czech Republic between May and September 2008.

Zelenka, a nurse at the hospital's intensive care unit, intentionally administered heparin, an anticoagulant, to patients requiring hospitalization but not necessarily needing blood-thinning medication. The unnecessary administration of heparin caused severe bleeding complications. He targeted patients under his care, choosing victims seemingly at random.

Initially, the cause of the sudden and unexplained bleeding incidents was a mystery. Hospital staff were perplexed by the unusual number of patients experiencing these complications. An investigation was launched after an increase in reported cases and a connection was made to Zelenka’s presence during the incidents.

Zelenka was arrested and confessed to his crimes. He claimed his motive was boredom and a desire to prove his competence by then successfully treating the complications he had caused.

In 2010, Petr Zelenka was convicted of seven counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, the maximum sentence in the Czech Republic. The case received considerable media attention in the Czech Republic, highlighting the vulnerability of patients in healthcare settings and raising concerns about hospital security and internal oversight. The case remains a significant example of a healthcare professional using their position to inflict harm on patients under their care.