Anger and pressure were building inside Elizabeth Wettlaufer, fueling her to use her position as a nurse to kill helpless seniors in her care at two long-term care facilities in Woodstock and London.
The ex-nurse pleaded guilty Thursday in a Woodstock courtroom to eight counts of first degree murder, four counts of attempted murder, and two counts of aggravated assault. The murders occurred between 2007 and 2014 and make Wettlaufer, who will turn 50 on June 10, the worst health care serial killer in Canadian history.
In a 57-page agreed statement of facts, the court heard Wettlaufer injected each victim with insulin with the intention of killing them. She stated that she had a "red surging" inside of her that she believed to be God talking with her. As she became more frustrated with her workload and personal life, Wettlaufer would get the "urge to kill."
After two failed attempts with other individuals, Wettlaufer was successful in her bid to murder on August 11, 2007 when she injected 84-year-old James Silcox with insulin.
The ex-nurse told the court she was particularly angry at Silcox that evening because of his conduct and described her feelings as an “urge to kill him." She said she felt it was “his time to go” because of the way he acted.
Silcox was found without vital signs by a personal support worker at Caressant Care in Woodstock hours after he was injected.
When speaking to police about the killing afterward she said “it felt like a pressure had been relieved from me just overall... like a pressure lifted from my emotions.”
That sense of anger and pressure returned to Wettlaufer on December 23, 2007, when she felt the strong urge to end the life of Maurice Granat. She told the 84-year-old Tillsonburg native she needed to give him a "vitamin shot," then injected him with insulin she had taken from the facility's medical refrigerator. He died a few hours later.
Wettlaufer recounted struggling with 87-year-old Gladys Millard while trying to inject her, but noted she was able to find a location that Millard could not reach or grab her. She admitted Millard’s stubbornness may have played a part in why she was targeted.
Some of the most chilling evidence was included in Wettlaufer's account of the killing of 95-year-old Helen Matheson. After talking with the nursing staff about her love for blueberry pie, they decided to get her a piece, which Wettlaufer fed to her. It was at that time she decided Matheson should be her next victim.
She said while injecting Matheson with insulin she got a feeling “in my chest area and after I did it, I got that laughter."
That "feeling inside" and "the laughter” returned to Wettlaufer after she injected Mary Zurawinski, a woman she described as feisty, outspoken, and fun.
In total, Wettlaufer murdered seven residents of Caressant Care before she was fired for medication errors. She was then hired by Meadow Park in London, where she would take the life of 75-year-old Arpad Horvath.
Suffering from dementia, Horvath was exhibiting difficult behaviour, hitting and kicking staff. Wettlaufer told police she felt angry, frustrated, and vindictive on August 21, 2014 and decided “enough was enough.” Horvath tried to fight Wettlaufer off when she attempted to administer the insulin shot.
“Eventually I got it into him,” she explained to investigators.
Horvath died seven days later.
Arpad Horvath Jr., son of Arpad Horvath Sr. who was murdered by Elizabeth Wettlaufer, speaks to reporters outside of the Woodstock courthouse. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)
Family and friends of Wettlaufer's victims filled the courtroom for Thursday's proceedings. They were shown a nearly three hour video confession Wettlaufer made to investigators in October 2016. In it, the former nurse calmly described the murders and attempted murders of each victim, even cracking jokes on two instances. She stated she originally thought she was "returning them to God" but later realized it wasn't God instructing her but a "mental health issue." She referred to herself as "a monster."
She expressed remorse when she spoke about comforting the niece of victim Helen Young, who cried on her shoulder.
The court heard about Wettlaufer's long struggle with substance abuse, but was told she was not intoxicated on drugs or alcohol when she committed her crimes. However, she did steal hydromorphone from the private residence of a patient for herself while taking insulin to later inject into one of her victims.
Wettlaufer confessed to the killings to several people before she was taken seriously, including to her girlfriend in 2008, a pastor in 2014, and a lawyer in 2014.
It wasn't until she went to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto and disclosed that she had overdosed patients resulting in their deaths that police were called. After a lengthy multi-jurisdictional police investigation, Wettlaufer was charged with the eight counts of first degree murder in October 2016. The attempted murder and aggravated assault charges were laid in January.
In searching Wettlaufer's computer following her arrest, police found that on September 8, 2016 she googled the names of five of the victims and looked at the obituaries for three others. She also searched Yahoo answers for the questions "How long and how painful is insulin overdose death?" and "What happens to the person in this case?”
Wettlaufer's other computer activity showed she read two articles titled “5 Killer Nurses Who Preyed on Their Helpless Patients” and “When Nurses Kill."
During much of Thursday's proceedings, Wettlaufer did not show any emotion or look around, choosing instead to face Justice Bruce Thomas at the front of the courtroom. The only time she turned her head, was when a male friend of Granat walked passed her in the prisoner's box, calling her a vulgar name.
Speaking to reporters outside of the courthouse, the son of Horvath said all of the new details released in court were hard to digest.
"I'm angry. I'm pissed off," said Arpad Horvath Jr. "I can't forgive this woman for what she did."
Laura Jackson, friend of Maurice Granat who was murdered by Elizabeth Wettlaufer, speaks to reporters outside of the Woodstock courthouse. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)
In regard to comments Wettlaufer made in her confession video about her hopes to help people in the future, Laura Jackson, friend of Granat, said she doubted there was anyone who would need her assistance.
"The only thing that she is going to help, I hope, is tightening up the regulations in nursing homes, in lightening some of the nurses loads so they are not looking after 32 patients and they are not overwhelmed and have a bad day and kill someone," said Jackson. "In that, maybe some good will come out of it. But her, she will rot in a box for the rest of her life and I'm happy to see her there."
Crown Fraser Kelly and defence lawyer Brad Burgess presented a joint sentencing submission. It calls for Wettlaufer to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for 25 years on the first degree murder charges; ten years in prison for the attempted murder charges; and seven years for the aggravated assault charges. All sentences to run concurrently.
Justice Thomas remanded Wettlaufer into custody until her sentencing hearing on June 26 and 27.
He then commended the family and friends of victims who sat through the roughly seven hours of court proceedings for their strength.
"I can't imagine the impact, the outpouring of emotion, the grief, and quite frankly I can't imagine the betrayal," said Justice Thomas.
The names of the those Wettlaufer is convicted of killing are James Silcox, Maurice Granat, Gladys Millard, Helen Matheson, Mary Zurawinski, Helen Young, Maureen Pickering, and Arpad Horvath.
The names of those Wettlaufer is convicted of trying to kill or assaulting are Wayne Hedges, Michael Priddle,Sandra Towler, Beverly Bertram, Clotilde Adriano, and Albina Demedeiros.
To read the full agreed statement of facts, click here.