Former Woodstock, Ont., nurse facing 8 murder charges in deaths of elderly patients

A former Woodstock, Ont., nurse killed eight elderly patients in southwestern Ontario nursing homes, Ontario Provincial Police allege.

Elizabeth Tracy Mae Wettlaufer, 49, is facing eight counts of first-degree murder in deaths between August 2007 and August 2014, police said during a Tuesday morning news conference in Woodstock.

The victims were between the ages of 75 and 96. Police would not say how they died, except that seven were administered a fatal dose of a drug.

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Wettlaufer was employed by Caressant Care Nursing and Retirement Homes, which operates six facilities in southwest Ontario. Seven of the victims died at the company’s location in Woodstock, a community of some 37,000 people about halfway between London and Hamilton. 

‘The victims were administered drugs’0:33

She was also employed at the Meadow Park facility in London, where the other victim died. 

Woodstock police confirmed to CBC News that a Facebook page registered to “Bethe Wettlaufer” belongs to the suspect. 

On Sept. 28, 2015, a post on that page featured the words: “My own voice called to me in the darkness. Others hands lifted me when I chose the light. One year ago I woke up not dead. 365 days clean and sober.”

This post appeared on a Facebook page Woodstock police confirmed to belong to Elizabeth Tracy Mae Wettlaufer, the woman facing eight first-degree murder charges.

 

According to the College of Nurses of Ontario, Wettlaufer was registered as a nurse in 1995. She resigned on Sept. 30, 2016, one day after the OPP say their investigation began.   

The college released a statement Tuesday confirming Wettlaufer is under investigation by the college and is not entitled to practice nursing.

Caressant Care said in a statement she left the company two and a half years ago and the company is “co-operating fully with police.”  A spokesperson said the home would only provide the written statement. 

Police: There is a span of seven years when deaths occurred0:28

Police identified the victims who died at the Woodstock home as: 

• James Silcox, 84, who died Aug. 17, 2007.
• Maurice Granat, 84, who died Dec. 23, 2007.
• Gladys Millard, 87, who died Oct. 14, 2011.
• Helen Matheson, 95, who died Oct. 27, 2011.
• Mary Zurawinski, 96, who died Nov. 7, 2011.
• Helen Young, 90, who died July 14, 2013.
• Maureen Pickering, 79, who died March 28, 2014.

The victim at Meadow Park was identified as: 

• Arpad Horvath, 75, who died Aug. 31, 2014.

Eight murder charges are the most brought against any individual in Ontario since eight men were killed in the Bandidos killings in 2006, according to Woodstock police chief William Renton.