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A Pennsylvania nurse who administered lethal or potentially lethal doses of insulin to numerous patients has pleaded guilty to three counts of murder.
Heather Pressdee, 41, was given three consecutive life sentences and another consecutive term of 380-760 years behind bars during a hearing in Butler, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.
When one of her lawyers asked her why she was pleading guilty, Pressdee replied, ‘Because I am guilty.’
She played a role in the deaths of at least 17 patients who lived in five health facilities in four counties between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said.
The 22 overall victims ranged in age from 43 to 104. Coworkers often questioned Pressdee’s conduct and said she frequently showed disdain for her patients and made derogatory comments about them, authorities said.
Family members were quick to blast the sick ‘Angel of Death’ as she listened to them testify at her Thursday sentencing. One said: ‘She is not sick. She is not insane. She is evil personified. … ‘I looked into the face of Satan myself the morning she killed my father.’
Pressdee, who could have faced a death sentence, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted murder.
She initially was charged in May 2023 with killing two nursing home patients and injuring a third.
Further investigation led to dozens of more charges against her. During a February hearing, she argued with her attorneys and indicated that she wanted to plead guilty.
Pressdee said little as she entered her pleas inside a Pennsylvania courthouse, responding to most questions with a single word.
The plea hearing was expected to last through Friday because several people wanted to give victim impact statements, officials said.
Some who spoke in court Thursday told Pressdee that she had wrongly tried to play God, noting that although some of her victims were elderly or very ill, none were ready to die.
Pressdee didn’t look at the speakers or react to their comments, even when one shouted an expletive at her that led the courtroom gallery to break out in applause, according to news reports.
Prosecutors alleged Pressdee, of Harrison, gave excessive amounts of insulin to 22 patients, including some who weren’t diabetic.
Two patients died at the Quality of Life Services facility located in Chicora, Pennsylvania, where Pressdee worked, prosecutors said.
She typically administered the insulin during overnight shifts, when staffing was low and the emergencies wouldn’t prompt immediate hospitalization. Most of the patients died soon after receiving the insulin dose, or some time later.
Her nursing license was suspended early last year, not long after the initial charges were filed.
According to court documents, Pressdee sent her mother texts between April 2022 and May 2023 in which she discussed her unhappiness with various patients and colleagues, and spoke about potentially harming them.
She also voiced similar complaints about people she encountered at restaurants and other places.
Pressdee had a history of being ‘disciplined for abusive behaviour towards patients and/or staff at each facility resulting in her resigning or being terminated,’ prosecutors said in court documents.
Beginning in 2018, Pressdee held a number of jobs at western Pennsylvania nursing homes and facilities for short periods, according to the documents.
She was charged with the murders of Irene Simons, 78, and Sandra Lincoln, 82, who died following unnecessary doses of insulin last year.
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