A public inquiry examining the case of Elizabeth Wettlaufer of southwestern Ontario, a serial-killer nurse who preyed on elderly patients is set to deliver its report today. The report is expected to delve into the circumstances that allowed Wettlaufer to kill eight patients without drawing suspicion while she worked at several long-term care facilities and private homes over nearly a decade. It is also expected to make recommendations aimed at preventing similar crimes in the future.
Wettlaufer is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in 2017 to killing eight patients with insulin overdoses and attempting to kill four others. Seven of the patients she killed were residents of Caressant Care in Woodstock, Ont., the community where the report is being released today. Wettlaufer was fired from Caressant Care in 2014 after multiple medication errors and was then hired by the Meadow Park care home in London, Ont., where she killed a 75-year-old resident. She told lawyers with the inquiry that she chose insulin to commit her crimes because it wasn't tracked where she worked.
The judge, police and prosecutor in her criminal case all said she wouldn't have been caught without her confession. The public inquiry's commissioner, Eileen Gillese, has said the probe is about healing "broken trust" in the long-term care system.
