PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "De Berk’s eventual conviction was based on two deaths, including that of baby Amber, which toxicology reports said could have been caused by digoxin poisoning. All the other patients were either very old or very sick and died as a result of ‘medically unexplained’ causes. In these cases, De Berk was on duty ‘noticeably often’ when someone died, the prosecution department had claimed. The statistical probability of her being present at so many deaths was central to the prosecution’s case. None of the alleged victims underwent post mortem examinations."
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STORY: "Wrongly convicted Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk dies, aged 63," published by Dutch News, on August 30, 2025.
GIST: Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk, who was at the centre of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Dutch legal history, has died at the age of 63 after a short illness.
De Berk, who always maintained her innocence, was jailed for life in 2004 and finally released in 2010 after a long campaign against her convictions.
The case against her was largely based on statistical evidence and claims that a baby had been poisoned. That supposed murder, later disputed by toxicologists, led prosecutors to state that other patients had also been killed by her.
The alleged murders and attempted murders took place at three hospitals between 1997 and 2001. They came to light after police began investigating the death of a baby girl named Amber.
De Berk’s eventual conviction was based on two deaths, including that of baby Amber, which toxicology reports said could have been caused by digoxin poisoning.
All the other patients were either very old or very sick and died as a result of ‘medically unexplained’ causes. In these cases, De Berk was on duty ‘noticeably often’ when someone died, the prosecution department had claimed.
The statistical probability of her being present at so many deaths was central to the prosecution’s case. None of the alleged victims underwent post mortem examinations.
The case bears strong similarities to that of British nurse Lucy Letby who was jailed in August 2023, after being found guilty on seven counts each of murdering and attempting to murder sick babies.
Her conviction too is largely based on statistical evidence placing her at the scene of every suspicious event but this has now been disputed by statisticians."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/08/wrongly-convicted-dutch-nurse-lucia-de-berk-dies-aged-63/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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