Accused Serial Killer Nurse Wrote Murderous Poems
On Oct. 25, 49-year-old nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of eight senior citizen patients between the ages of 75 to 96 who were in her care, the National Post reports. Police also believe Wettlaufer wrote and posted poetry under a pseudonym from the perspective of a serial killer.
According to CityNews, Wettlaufer is believed to have killed her patients between 2007 and 2014. It’s unconfirmed, but police suspect Wettlaufer injected each victim with a lethal dose of drugs. The conditions of her peace bond - arranged because there was significant reason to believe Wettlaufer might have seriously harmed herself in any other situation - include living with her parents, being banned from insulin or any other medication other than her own, and being banned from any assisted living facilities, nursing or retirement homes, or hospitals. She is also banned from having alcohol and is required to receive mental health treatment.
Neighbors wonder if Wettlaufer knew the arrest was coming - she reportedly gave her “beloved” dog away a few weeks ago and resigned her nursing license Sept. 30. Police received a tip, though it’s unclear from whom or what the tip was, that a nurse had been involved in the Canadian killings Sept. 29 and began investigating that day. Wettlaufer had been a registered nurse since 1995.
The National Post uncovered poems on allpoetry.com under the name Betty Weston believed to be written by Wettlaufer as they are copyrighted to Bethe Wettlaufer. The paper reports one poem, called “Inevitable,” which appears to since be removed from the author page, read: “Heart beats then sprays / as this next victim pays / her deft dagger’s bill.”
Another poem, called “Working happy,” appears to describe her work in geriatrics:
Maybe it’s the rye
or the time of night
but my day was not so bad.
Filled with work and satisfaction
and old people.
See I work with old people
and I love their candidacy,
their points,
their wrinkles, their frailties
their refusing to eat anything but icecream,
even their smell.
I love the finality, the resignation
the knowing this is their last home.
Yes, sometimes I feel angry
but mostly at the staff
the people exected to meet the aging needs.
I want to see everyone happy,
everyone content
and when others who are paid to do so don’t,
well I boil over.
Come on, these people are paying to be here
to end their days in a beige diapered wasteland.
Tonight though there is not even a simmer.
Everyone is in bed.
Everyone is content.
Every tooth soaking, every diaper done up
every pad in place.
So I am content.
My happiness slides into place
like the catheter I put in tonight
and my soul vents itself
like the healthy urine collecting in the bag.
The Globe and Mail reports if convicted, Wettlaufer would be one of the worst serial killers in Canadian history. Her trial date is still pending.
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