HELSINKI, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Helsinki District Court on Tuesday began proceedings in a headline-grabbing case of serial murder in Finland.

    The nurse, 58, has been charged with five murders of elderly patients along with six attempted murders, two aggravated assaults, drug offences and two counts of theft, local media reported. One of the assaults was apparently an attempted poisoning of a co-worker.

    Police and prosecutors allege the suspect committed the crimes while working in hospitals, hospices and private homes between 2004 and 2009. The victims were elderly people in the nurse's care.

    The nurse, who has been in custody since spring, has denied all charges.

    It is the second murder trial involving a nurse inside a year. Last May, Finland's Tampere District Court imposed a life sentence on a 27-year-old nurse for murder and attempted murder over the insulin poisoning death of an elderly woman patient.