National Post (National Edition)
More charges against alleged serial killer
Ex-nurse accused of attempting to kill four others
WOODSTOCK, ONT. • A former Ontario nurse accused of killing eight elderly patients in her care shuffled into a court in shackles Friday to face new allegations of attempting to murder four others by injecting them with insulin.
Elizabeth Wettlaufer, wearing a green sweatsuit, was also handcuffed as she was led in to a Woodstock court from the Vanier Centre for Women as the alleged victims’ family members watched from a packed gallery Friday.
“We want her to see how much hurt and how much pain we have for our loved ones and how much pain she’s created,” said Andrea Silcox, a daughter of one of Wettlaufer’s alleged victims. “She needs to see the pain in the faces that still exist, the loved ones that she had left behind.”
Laura Jackson, a friend of another alleged victim, said she wanted to see that Wettlaufer “gets the justice she deserves.”
Donald Martin, whose friend Maurice Granat is among the alleged victims, was struggling to keep his emotions in check.
“It’s not up to her to be God,” he said. “It’s not up to her to decide that that man was to die.”
The 49-year-old former nurse, who has been in custody since her arrest on eight murder charges in late October, looked out silently at the public benches.
After a very brief hearing, Wettlaufer was led from the court. She will next appear before a judge on Feb. 15, by video.
Moments before Friday’s scheduled court appearance, Ontario Provincial Police announced the new charges.
The four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault involve six nursing home residents in Woodstock and Paris who range in age from 57 to 90 years old.
She is accused of attempting to murder Sandra Towler, 77, at Telfer Place nursing home in Paris in September 2015; Beverly Bertram, 68, at a private Oxford County residence in August 2016; Wayne Hedges, 57, at Caressant Care nursing home in Woodstock between September and December 2008; and Michael Priddle, 63, also at Caressant Care between January 2008 and December 2009.
The alleged victims of aggravated assault are siblings Clotilde Adriano, 87, and Albina Demedeiros, 90, who were living at Caressant Care between June and December 2007.
Four of the alleged victims — Adriano, Demedeiros, Hedges and Priddle — have since died although police said “their confirmed causes of death are not attributed to the accused.”
Police would not provide details on the incidents but said their investigation was ongoing.
“It’s a very intense investigation and, obviously, there’s still a lot more questions than answers, but it’s an ongoing investigation,” said Sgt. David Rektor, encouraging people with information about the case to call police.
Wettlaufer was under a peace bond for several weeks before her arrest in October for eight murders in Woodstock’s Caressant Care home and a nursing home in London.
Police alleged she used insulin to kill the seniors while she worked at the facilities between 2007 and 2014.
In October, police were insistent that all of the alleged victims had been identified, saying they were “confident” none were missed. But families across the province whose loved ones lived at Caressant Care, Meadow Park in London and other nursing homes where Wettlaufer worked weren’t so sure.
Thousands of people phoned investigators after the charges were made public, worried their family members may have been affected while under Wettlaufer’s care. A police presence was also noticed at other facilities where she worked, including Telfer Place.
In Paris, Ont., on Friday, residents coming out of Telfer Place had little to say about the attempted murder charge police announced earlier in the day, involving a 77-year-old woman from the home.
The residents say all they know about the case is what they read in the news.
Before she was arrested, Wettlaufer entered into a peace bond as police feared she would “commit a serious personal injury.”
Among several restrictions placed on her by a court, she was ordered not to possess insulin and was not allowed to work as a caregiver.
Wettlaufer was also not allowed to possess or consume alcohol and had to obey a curfew and reside in either her apartment or with her parents in Woodstock between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., except to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, according to terms laid out in the peace bond.
The peace bond also required her to “continue any treatment for mental health.”
Records from the College of Nurses of Ontario show Wettlaufer was first registered as a nurse in August 1995.
She resigned Sept. 30, 2016, and is no longer a registered nurse.