Nurse admits killing 5 more patients

proudmom

Thu, Jun 30 2005, 11:01 am

FLEMINGTON, N.J. (AP) - A former nurse who pleaded guilty to killing 24 patients admitted Monday to killing five more people by injecting them with lethal doses of drugs.

Charles Cullen, 45, pleaded guilty to the murders in state Superior Court, bringing to 29 the number of victims he has confessed to slaying in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Cullen had previously denied killing anyone at Hunterdon Medical Center, where he worked in the critical care unit from April 1994 until October 1996. In most of the cases, he admitted killing the patients with an overdose of heart medication. The victims ranged in age from 49 to 81.

A court official, speaking on behalf of the victims' families, said the families preferred not to comment on Cullen's plea.

As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Cullen has co-operated with investigators in reviewing scores of suspicious deaths during his tenure at various hospitals to determine whether he had killed any other patients. He agreed to help authorities in exchange for a promise they would not seek the death penalty.

Cullen was arrested in December 2003 and had told investigators he might have killed as many as 40 people. He said he was able to move from hospital to hospital, despite suspicions he was killing patients, because the institutions did not report their fears to authorities.

Cullen's lawyer has said Cullen believed that his victims were terminally ill and that it was dehumanizing to prolong people's lives by artificial means.