A 49-year-old woman once employed at long-term care facilities in two Ontario communities has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, police say, in connection with the deaths of elderly patients following a “multi-jurisdictional” homicide investigation.
Police say Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer is responsible for the deaths of seven patients at the Caressant Care facility in Woodstock and one patient at Meadow Park in London.
Wettlaufer was employed at both facilities. In a news conference in Woodstock on Tuesday morning, police said the homicides occurred between 2007 and 2014.
Police say the victims were administrated a drug. Investigators would not comment on which drug specifically and will not comment on a possible motive for the killings.
Wettlaufer’s LinkedIn profile says she worked as a charge nurse at those two facilities. It also says she studied nursing at Conestoga College between 1992 and 1995 and she earned a bachelor’s degree at London Baptist Bible College in the late 1980’s.
According to the College of Nurses, Wettlaufer resigned her registration as a nurse late last month on September 30th. It is not clear if she resigned voluntarily or was forced to resign.
As news broke about her charges, Wettlaufer’s friend Nancy Gilbert stood outside her apartment building, trying to piece it all together.
“She was a happy-go-lucky lady,” said Nancy Gilbert, who lived downstairs from Wettlaufer’s fifth-floor apartment.
“Shocked, just shocked.”
Wettlaufer told her friend she had just gotten out of rehab at a facility in Toronto, Gilbert said.
More startling allegations from another neighbour who says the kind woman had two very different sides.
“Two months ago, I was sitting on my balcony and she confided in me that she had gone through a few jobs. Out of the blue she says I got fired for one for stealing medication, the other job I got fired because I was high,” says Wade Messenger, Wettlaufer’s neighbour.
Messenger’s claims have not been confirmed.
Wettlaufer appeared in a Woodstock court on Tuesday and was remanded into custody. The investigation is now being treated as a multiple homicide. She is expected to appear in court via video on November 2nd.
London Police, Woodstock Police, and the OPP are handling the investigation. Police say there is no further immediate threat to patients or community safety.
"We are a resilient town," Woodstock's police chief says, adding that it's difficult for the community to endure these tragic incidents.
Police identified the victims at Caressant Care as James Silcox, 84, Maurice Granat, 84, Gladys Millard, 87, Helen Matheson, 95, Mary Zurawinski, 96, Helen Young, 90, and Maureen Pickering, 79. The victim who lived at Meadow Park in London has been identified as 75-year-old Arpad Horvath.
Gladys Millard’s daughter told CTV News her mother died at Cressant Care facility in 2011. She says her mother suffered from Alzheimer’s and was already in a coma when family members came to say their goodbyes. She still can’t grasp at the fact her mother may have been murdered.
Bob Hilderly was a friend of another victim, Helen Matheson. Hilderly says Matheson was a mother of two, a former teacher who was quiet and deeply religious.
“Helen would never ever say a bad word about anybody. And if you needed any help or anything she was always right there to help,” says Hilderly.
Marika Hayek, was a friend of Arpad Horvath, another alleged victim. Hayek says she was friends with Horvath for more than fifty years and went to visit him one week before he died at London’s Meadow Park facility in 2014.
“I went over there, before he died,” says Hayek.
Hayek says everyone thought Horvath, a loving father and husband, died from a stroke.
Nursing home operator Caressant Care issued a statement Tuesday morning saying they are fully cooperating with the investigation.
According to the statement, Wettlaufer left Caressant Care two and a half years ago.
"We remain in regular contact with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Our highest priority is to continue to provide for the physical, social and spiritual needs of our residents, and that remains our focus. We deeply regret the additional grief and stress this is imposing on the families involved," Lee Griffi, a communications manager for the facility, said in the statement.
The investigation is raising questions about the quality of care being provided across Ontario.
NDP seniors’ issues critic Teresa Armstrong slammed the Premiere at Queen’s Park on Tuesday.
“How do murders go undetected for nearly ten years inside any long term care home in Ontario?” asked Armstrong who represents London-Fanshawe.
Premier Kathleen Wynne deflected the question, saying it’s now a matter for police.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who would not agree this is a tragic circumstance. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on an ongoing police investigation,” Wynne responded.
The President of the Ontario Personal Support Worker Association says fentanyl patches and morphine are typically accessible in long-term care homes, which is why nurses must meet specific registration requirements.
“They have to sign for every single med that they give and at the end of shift when a new nurse is coming in. They have to count the medication and go through all the documentation related with it,” says Miranda Ferrier, President of the OPSWA.
