Nursing Home Horror: Nurse Charged with Murder Confesses to Trying to Kill 19 Using Insulin Overdoses, Prosecutors Say
A Pennsylvania nurse facing charges for allegedly mistreating three patients has admitted to trying to kill 19 other patients since 2020, according to prosecutors.
In May, Heather Pressdee was accused of trying to kill three people through insulin overdoses at the care facilities where she worked, according to NBC News. Two of those patients died.
On Thursday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced in a news release that new charges had been filed alleging Pressdee tried to kill 19 other people at five different care facilities where she worked between 2020 and 2023.
The 41-year-old nurse has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person.
The release said first-degree murder charges are filed “in the cases where physical evidence is available to support the cause of death. Attempted murder is charged in the cases where the victims either survived the excessive dosage of insulin, or the cause of death could not be determined.”
“If Pressdee sensed the victim would ‘pull through’ there is a pattern of her taking additional measures to try to kill the victims before they could be sent to the hospital by either administering a second dose of insulin or the use of an air embolism to ensure death,” the criminal complaint against her said.
The complaint said Pressdee, whose license to work as a nurse is suspended, “admitted to harming, with the intent to kill, all patients named in this affidavit.”
The attorney general’s news release said her victims ranged in age from 43 to 104.
It said some patients required insulin but others that she injected did not. Patients were injected during the overnight shift, the release said.
“The allegations against Ms. Pressdee are disturbing,” Henry said in a statement. “It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them.
“The damage done to the victims and their loved ones cannot be overstated. Every person in a medical or care facility should feel safe and cared for, and my office will work tirelessly to hold the defendant accountable for her crimes and protect care-dependent Pennsylvanians from future harm.”
It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them. The damage done to the victims and their loved ones cannot be overstated. pic.twitter.com/gb4EUzZ3mT
— Michelle Henry (@PAAttorneyGen) November 2, 2023
Pressdee’s attorneys, Jim DePasquale and Phil DiLucente, told NBC News that their goal is to keep their client from facing execution.
“This a very complex and serious matter. Ms. Pressdee had her formal arraignment yesterday on the first set of charges, previously filed by the PA Attorney General’s office and in addition had her preliminary hearing on the new set of homicide and attempted homicide charges,” they said in a statement.
“The goal from the very beginning of these matters was to not have the death penalty imposed. We are in pursuit of that goal,” the attorneys said.
The criminal complaint said Presslee’s cellphone had extensive messages to her mother about death and killing.
For example, a June 2022 message about a resident said, “If you get like this you will get pillow therapy.” A September 2022 text about a resident said, “I drugged him already and I don’t know how he is awake.”
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