Canadian nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer would not have become a serial killer if she had not been in the medical profession, an expert claims.
The 50-year-old, from Southwestern Ontario, dubbed the ‘Angel of Death’, was given a life sentence in June this year after confessing to killing eight elderly patients by injecting them with lethal doses of insulin, which was readily accessible to her.
In a new episode of CBS’s Voice of a Serial Killer, experts argue that she was ‘not that exceptional’, but had a ‘ready supply of victims’ in front of her, as well as a ‘murder kit’ in the form of drugs on the ward.
They also noted that there was a two-year period – during which time she was not working with the elderly – when she did not appear to have ‘any driving motivation’ to kill.
However, experts said she appeared to be ‘turned on’ by ‘playing god’ – deciding whether patients would live or die.
In fact, Wettlaufer claimed in her chilling confession tapes that her actions were driven by God, who she says told her ‘This is how you work for me’.
Although it is common for murderers to blame God, criminal experts say the nurse differs from other serial killers because of the ‘guilt’ she describes feeling following her patients’ deaths – as well as the fact that she turned herself in to police.
Nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer, 50, from Southwestern Ontario, was given a life sentence in June after confessing to killing eight elderly patients by injecting them with lethal doses of insulin
Criminal experts described her as a ‘lonely, sad, drug addict’ who enjoyed the power that she got from taking her patients’ lives into her own hands .
Clinical forensic psychologist Dr Mike Berry explained: ‘Serial killers love to be in a powerful position.
‘That moment when they decide you live, or you don’t live. That’s a fantastic turn on for anybody who’s into that kind of behaviour.’
However, experts say that in many ways, her profile was not typical of serial killers and that she would not have been committed her crimes had it not been for her role.
The 50-year-old confessed to killing and attempting to kill her patients while at a psychiatric hospital in Toronto, before turning herself into police
Her confession has been reconstructed on CBS’s Voice of a Serial Killer (pictured), which used real recordings of her police interview
Dr Eric Cullen, also a forensic psychologist, explained: ‘She would not have been a serial killer if she’d not been in that position, that place of trust, that place of opportunity, that place of vulnerability of her victims. And her professional knowledge.’
He added: ‘She is not that exceptional, there are many people with similar profiles.’
Wettlaufer killed five women and three men in the Ontario towns of Woodstock and London between 2007 and 2014, with the victims aged from 75 to 96.
However, Dr Berry pointed out that there was a two-year period, when she wasn’t working with the elderly, where she did not commit any murders.
‘What’s unusual with her is that there were a gap of about two years, when she wasn’t working with the elderly, and she didn’t kill,’ he explained.
The ‘mild-mannered’ nurse’s elderly victims
Elizabeth Wettlaufer killed five women and three men at Caressant Care Woodstock Nursing Home and Meadow Park Nursing Home in London, Ontario between 2007 and 2014.
She injected her first victim 84-year-old James Silcox, who suffered from dementia, with insulin in August 2007 – the same year that her marriage broke down.
Her other victims were: Maurice Granat, 84; Gladys Millard, 87; Helen Matheson, 95; Mary Zurawinski, 96; Helen Young, 90; Maureen Pickering, 79, and Arpad Horvath, 75.
Victim James Silcox, 84, pictured left, and Maurice Granat, also 84, pictured right
Gladys Millard, 87, pictured left, and Helen Matheson, 95, pictured right
Experts say that Wettlaufer treated her male and female victims differently, painting the man as abusers, while suggesting that the women needed to be put out of their misery.
In her police interview, she claimed that Granat groped her before she killed him, saying she ‘got that feeling inside that this was his time to go’.
Wettlaufer also suggested that Young was ‘miserable’ and told nurses ‘help me die’.
She claimed that Zurawinski had told her to put her on her ‘death bed’ as she was going to die that night.
Mary Zurawinski, 96, pictured left, and Arpad Horvath, 75, pictured right
Maureen Pickering, 79, pictured, was killed in March 2014 in Woodstock
‘And there didn’t seem to be any driving motivation for her to kill during that period.’
Fellow expert Dr Christopher Berry-Dee agreed, adding: ‘Wettlaufer had a ready supply of victims literally laying in their beds, waiting for her to come along to kill them.’
He added: ‘She didn’t have to go trawling the streets like some serial killers, she had them laying in front of her.’
The nurse, apparently overwhelmed by her guilt, confessed to killing and attempting to kill her patients while at a psychiatric hospital in Toronto, where she was being treated for addiction to prescription drugs.
Staff reported her to police, and Wettlaufer subsequently agreed to being interviewed by officers, giving a two-hour long confession that experts liken to her ‘admitting her sins to a priest’.
Experts who examined the recordings say Wettlaufer would not have become a serial killer if she had not been in the medical profession
In her chilling confession tapes, she claimed her actions were driven by God, telling her ‘This is how you work for me’
In her police interview, the nurse – who committed her first murder the same year as her marriage broke down – claimed that she had been instructed by God to kill.
Wettlaufer paints herself as a mercy killer, who ended the lives of her elderly victims – in particular her female victims – in order to ease their pain.
Describing a ‘red surge’ she felt prior to her killings, she told officers: ‘There was always that red surging that I identified as God telling me “This is how you work for me”.’
Wettlaufer also claimed she heard voices, saying: ‘[I]t was a like a voice said inside me saying “I’ll use you, don’t worry about it”.’
Voice of a Serial Killer airs on Wednesday at 10pm on CBS Reality.