KASHIWA, CHIBA PREF. ¨C A former nurse arrested for allegedly killing a patient at a hospital in Chiba Prefecture by mixing feces into his intravenous drip?had used her smartphone to search whether a feces injection could kill people, investigative sources said.

She was also seen entering the patient¡¯s room several times shortly before his death, according to hospital officials.

The 51-year-old former nurse, Miyuki Furukawa, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of murdering the male patient in the early hours of Jan. 30. She is said to have denied the allegations. The Chiba Prefectural Police are investigating how feces came to be mixed into the extension tube of the intravenous drip.

At a news conference on Thursday, Tomonobu Hasegawa, director of Kashiwa Tanaka Hospital, said, ¡°We deeply apologize¡± over the murder. ¡°We will thoroughly educate all employees on ethics again,¡± he added.

According to the hospital in the city of Kashiwa in Chiba Prefecture, an assistant nurse who worked the night shift with Furukawa saw the suspect several times entering and leaving the hospital room of Eiji Aita, 75, who later died.

Furukawa is believed to have interacted with Aita while working night shifts four to five times a month.

At around 4 a.m. on Jan. 30, the assistant nurse found Aita in pain while doing her rounds. The head nurse, who rushed to the patient¡¯s room after receiving a call, discovered a brown foreign object in the extension tube of the infusion connected to the patient.

The tube was removed and kept in a sterile cup, but Furukawa moved it to a room for hospital staff while Aita was being treated. When the tube was checked later, the foreign object had a reddish color.

Furukawa was suspended from work immediately after the incident. About three weeks later, when she was informed that the police had started an investigation, she submitted her resignation notice on Feb. 24.