A nurse who administered fatal doses of insulin to numerous patients has been handed down multiple life sentences.
Heather Pressdee, aged 41, was given three consecutive life sentences along with an additional consecutive term of between 380-760 years in prison. The ruling was delivered in Butler, located about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Pressdee is believed to have directly caused a minimum of 17 patient deaths across five health facilities located in four different counties from 2020 through to 2023. She admitted guilt for three murder charges among other offences.
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Pressdee's victims were between the ages of 43 and 104. Her colleagues noted her troubling behaviours, and detailed that she would frequently show disdain for her patients and outright make derogatory comments aimed at them.
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Colleagues noticed her troubling behaviour (Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office)Although a potential death sentence was on the cards for her, Pressdee also conceded guilt for 19 counts of attempted murder. Initially accused in May 2023 for causing the deaths of two care home patients and injuring another, subsequent probes linked even more charges back to her.
Throughout the course of the proceedings, Pressdee predominantly stayed silent, mainly responding to queries with a single syllable. When pressed by one of her lawyers about her guilty plea, Pressdee starkly responded, "Because I am guilty."
The plea hearing sees numerous victims wishing to present their impact statements as per court officials. Inside the courtroom, remarks hinted at Pressdee having exceeded her responsibilities by taking life into her own hands, irregardless of the advanced age or critical illness of her victims, none of whom desired death.
The alleged crimes happened while Pressdee worked as a registered nurse at five different facilities: including the Quality Life Services Chicora (v)Even when met with harsh words, which sparked applause from the gallery, Pressdee remained placid and did not engage with the speakers, according to media reports. One person addressing the court stated: "She is not sick. She is not insane. She is evil personified. ... "I looked into the face of Satan myself the morning she killed my father.
.Prosecutors allege Pressdee, from Harrison, recklessly administered excessive insulin doses to 22 individuals, including those who were not diabetic. Reportedly, these injections typically occurred during night shifts where hospitalisations could be potentially hidden due to low staffing. Tragically, many patients passed away soon after receiving the insulin dose.Following the filing of initial charges last year, Pressdee's nursing license was promptly suspended.
Revealed in court documents are text messages between Pressdee and her mother during April 2022 and May 2023, hinting at potential harm, and expressing dissatisfaction with both colleagues and patients.Court documents revealed that Pressdee had a checkered past, having been "disciplined for abusive behavior towards patients and/or staff at each facility resulting in her resigning or being terminated. " From 2018, she held various positions in nursing homes across western Pennsylvania, but only for short spells.
In other cases, healthcare providers have been convicted of murdering their patients. One such instance is William Davis, a Texan nurse found guilty of capital murder in 2021 for injecting air into patients' arteries post-heart surgery.
While he was sentenced to death, he is currently contesting his conviction. Another infamous case is Charles Cullen, a nurse who killed no less than 29 nursing home residents in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, though some experts suspect the real number could be much higher.
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