“I am truly sorry for the people I injured and murdered. Sorry is much too small a word.”
These words by former nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer were spoken after she was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years. I know, I know, Canada is known for hockey and apologizing, but unfortunately we breed monsters too. This 50 year old nurse plead guilty to eight counts of first degree murder with 4 counts of attempted murder and 2 counts of aggravated assault. All of which occurred at various nursing homes in Ontario, Canada. Wettlaufer believed that, after years of drug and alcohol abuse, she had not only found, but been chosen by God to be an instrument in his hands. She admitted to injecting her patients with insulin — which goes unnoticed in autopsies — and watched them fade way.
This near-decade long crime spree has finally come to an end; however, the scariest thing is that the only reason Wettlaufer was caught is that, in 2016, she turned herself in. These crimes could have continued and continued to go unpunished. This was one of the main arguments of her defense attorney, but it bore little weight for the families of her victims. Arpad Horvath Jr., whose father was among the victims, told reporters that her apology was “a waste of time, paper and air. Hopefully her conscience becomes her prison, and hopefully she rots in it.”
Justice Thomas agreed with the victims. “She was far from an angel of mercy. Rather, she was a shadow of death that passed over during the night shifts that she supervised. She left a trail of broken lives in her wake.”
As with most serial killers, Wettlaufer’s dark side confused and surprised her friends and co-workers. By all accounts, she was a good nurse who the patients loved and who was easy to work with. However, upon closer inspection as the trial went on, it was exposed that the drugs she had been hooked on were prescription ones which were stolen from the facilities where she worked. It is also clear from her history that as soon as the heat was on at one place, she found employment at another. While publicly self-professing to be doing God’s work, Wettlaufer privately confessed to choosing her victims in a far less spiritual manner. Wettlaufer confessed that she picked some of her victims because they “were mean, difficult to look after and I had a heavy workload. I knew the difference between right and wrong, but I thought this was something God, or whoever, wanted me to do it…but I was starting at that point to doubt that it was God.”
Currently, Elizabeth Wettlaufer sits in prison and will most likely remain there the rest of her life. Whether she believes what she did was sacred, merciful, easing her workload, or simply habitual, she is the newest monster on a long list of people who cannot control the darkness inside.
The victims
- James Silcox, 84 (died 2007)
- Maurice Granat, 84 (died 2007)
- Gladys Millard, 87 (died 2011)
- Helen Matheson, 95 (died 2011)
- Mary Zurawinski, 96 (died 2011)
- Helen Young, 90 (died 2013)
- Maureen Pickering, 79 (died 2014)
- Arpad Horvath, 75 (died 2014)
- Wayne Hedges, 57 (attempted murder)
- Michael Priddle, 63 (attempted murder)
- Sandra Towler, 77 (attempted murder)
- Beverly Bertram, 68 (attempted murder)
- Clotilde Adriano, 87 (aggravated assault)
- Albina Demedeiros, 90 (aggravated assault)
