6. Background: Serving 11 life sentences. Most Prolific Serial Killer in New Jersey History. Murdered at least 40 patients in his 16 years of working. Worked in 10 Hospitals/facilities. Known as "Satan's son" or "monster" Cullen, 46, pleaded guilty to murdering 22 people in New Jersey and trying to kill three others. He will be sentenced later for seven murders and three attempted murders in Pennsylvania.
7. St. Barnabas Medical CenterLivingston, NJ Cullen administered a lethal over doses of medication intravenously. Admitted to killing several patients at St. Barnabas including an AIDS patient who dies after being given an overdose of insulin. Cullen quit in 1992 when hospital authorities began to investigate who might be tampering with the IV bags intravenous fluids. Internal investigation revealed that Cullen was the person responsible for contaminating IV bags with Insulin. Believed to have caused dozens of deaths of patients during his 3 years venture.
8. Warren HospitalPhillipsburg, NJ Worked at Warren Hospital in February of 1992. Murdered 3 elderly women by giving them overdoses of heart medication. His final victim said that a “sneaky male nurse” injected her as she slept, but family members and other healthcare workers dismissed her comments. Left Warren Hospital in 1993. Cullen was arrested for trespassing in a co-worker’s home and placed on probation for a year. He tried to commit suicide several times. Treated for depression in two psychiatric facilities.
9. Hunterdon Medical CenterFlemington,NJ After leaving Warren Hospital worked here in 1993. Worked in intensive care/Cardiac unit. Claims he did not murder anyone the first 2 years. Admitting to murdering 5people in the first 9 months of 1996 by administering overdoses of Digoxin. Digoxin is widely used in the treatment of various heart conditions, namely atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter and sometimes heart failure that cannot be controlled by other medication.
10. Morristown Memorial HospitalMorristown, NJ Worked in Morristown and fired in 1997 for poor performances. He remained unemployed for 6 months. Cullen once again sought treatment for depression. He was admitted to a psychiatric facility. 1998 Cullen was hired by liberty Nursing and Rehabilitation center in Allentown, Pa. Fired same year for mistreatment of patients.
11. Easton HospitalEaston, Pa From 1998-1999 Murdered another patient using Digoxin. Internal investigation was inconclusive and nothing pointed to Cullen as the murderer. There was a nationwide shortage for nurses and Cullen continued to find work. There were no reporting mechanisms or systems in place to identify nurses with mental issues or employment problems. Cullen then took a job in the burn unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown Pa. Here Cullen murdered 1 patient and attempted to murder another. 1999 Cullen resigned and then worked at St Luke’s Hospital Cardiac unit in Bethlehem Pa. Over the next 3 years he murdered 5 more patients. Attempted to commit suicide again by putting a gas grill in his bathtub, lit it and hoped that the carbon monoxide would kill him.
12. St. LukesHospital/Somerset Medical Center Bethlehem, PA/Somerville NJ No one suspected Cullen was murdering patients at St. Lukes until a co-worker found vials of unused medications in a disposal bin. Being that the drugs were no valuable outside the hospital and were not used by recreational drug users this finding raised curiosity. An investigation was done and Cullen was fired. 7 St. Lukes nurses alerted authorities of their suspicion that Cullen used drugs to kill patients. Case was dropped 9 months later for the lack of evidence. In 2002 Cullen found a job at Somerset Medical Center in the critical care unit. His depression worsened. Murdered 8 more patients. Started to use the drug epinephrine.Epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) is a hormone and neurotransmitter.[1] It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system.
13. In Conclusion: Cullen was able to move around from facility to facility undetected because of the lack of reporting requirements and inadequate legal protection for employers. New Jersey and Pennsylvania required facilities to report suspicious deaths only in the most egregious cases, and penalties for failing to report incidents were minor. At the time many stated did not give investigators the legal authority to discover where a worker had previously been employed. Employers feared to investigate incidents or give a bad employment reference for the fear that such actions may trigger a lawsuit. According to authorities and Cullen several hospitals suspected harming/ killing patients but failed to take appropriate legal actions. Since then new laws have been adopted which encourage employers to give honest appraisal of workers and job performances. Laws were passed in 2004 and 2005. Licensed health care professionals will undergo background checks and be fingerprinted at their own cost.
15. Charles Edmund Cullen Convicted mass-murderer Charles Cullen is escorted from the Old Lehigh County Courthouse on March 10, 2006, by Pennsylvania State Police officers after a hearing before President Judge William Platt. During the hearing Cullen, who was silent in public virtually since his arrest, would not stop talking and a bit was fitted on his head.
16. Victims: Melissa Hardgrove reacts as she talks about her father, Christopher Hardgrove (in photo at right) during sentencing for serial killer nurse Charles Cullen in Somerville, N.J., Thursday, March 2, 2006. Cullen was sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms in prison after a hearing during which relatives of his victims called him "the monster" and blamed his multiyear killing spree for wrecking their lives. Christopher Hardgrove was one of as many as 40 patients that Cullen admitted killing.
17. -John W. Yengo Sr., 72, of Jersey City, N.J., died June 11, 1988, St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston. He was a Jersey City municipal judge who twice ran for mayor of his hometown. -Lucy Mugavero, 90, of Phillipsburg, N.J., died March 9, 1993, at Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg, N.J. A former garment worker with three children and eight grandchildren, one of whom later became the mayor of Phillipsburg and chairman of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. -Mary Natoli, 85, of Phillipsburg, N.J., died July 23, 1993, at Warren Hospital. A former silk mill worker who was described by her family as a hardworking Italian grandmother. -Helen Dean, 91, of Lopatcong Township, N.J., died Sept. 1, 1993, at Warren Hospital. Dean was in the hospital for breast cancer surgery. After her death, her son Larry vowed to find her killer but died of cancer in 2001. -LeRoy Sinn, 71, hometown not disclosed, died Jan. 21, 1996 at Hunterdon Medical Center. A patent attorney and a member of a club called Gardeners of Somerset Valley. He used his legal knowledge to help the club set up a scholarship fund. -Earl Young, 76, hometown not disclosed, died May 31, 1996 at Hunterdon Medical Center. Young worked as stock clerk at Flemington Cut Glass, where the owner described him as a reserved but easygoing person. -Catherine Dext, 49, hometown not disclosed, died June 9, 1996 at Hunterdon Medical Center. Dext was a supervisor at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, where a colleague described her as a low-key person who always did her job. -Frank Mazzacco, 66, hometown not disclosed, died June 24, 1996 at Hunterdon Medical Center. Mazzacco taught for 34 years in public schools in Trenton and at one time served as the teachers' union president. -Jesse Eichlin, 81, hometown not disclosed, died July 10, 1996 at Hunterdon Medical Center. Eichlin was a farmer and carpenter who used his skills to help build a Sunday school wing for his Franklin Township church. -Ottomar Schramm, 78, of Bethlehem, Pa., died Dec. 30, 1998, at Easton Hospital in Easton, Pa. Described by his daughter as a man who worked two jobs to provide for his wife and three children. Schramm was born in Nicaragua to missionaries. -Matthew Mattern, 22, of Shamokin, Pa., died Aug. 31, 1999, at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, Pa. One of Cullen's youngest victims who was in the hospital after being severely burned in a car accident. -Irene Krapf, 79, of Tamaqua, Pa., died June 22, 2001, at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill, Pa. Krapf, who had eight children and 22 grandchildren, helped her husband run a taxi company out of the family's home. -William Park, 72, of Lehighton, Pa., died Nov. 8, 2001, at St. Luke's Hospital. A self-employed upholsterer and a Korean war veteran who lived in Franklin Township. -Samuel Spangler, 80, of Bethlehem, Pa., died Jan. 9, 2002, at St. Luke's Hospital. His son Ronald described his father as proud family man who was a former machine operator at Stroh Brewing Co. -Daniel George, 82, of Bethlehem, Pa., died May 5, 2002, at St. Luke's Hospital. He owned George's Food liner in Bethlehem and Danny's Restaurant and Lounge in Hanover Township. He had three daughters and three grandchildren. -Edward O'Toole, 76, of Bethlehem, Pa., died June 2, 2002, at St. Luke's Hospital. He was a Navy veteran of World War II who worked 20 years as a district sales manager in Pennsylvania for A.O. Smith Water Heater Co. before retiring in 1990. -Eleanor Stoecker, 60, Bedminster, N.J., died Feb. 12, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, N.J. A retired medical assistant and the mother of Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey radio personality Zach Martin.
18. -Joyce E. Mangini, 74, Raritan, N.J., died Feb. 23, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. A homemaker who loved cooking and crocheting. -Giacomino J. Toto, 89, Bridgewater, N.J., died Feb. 23, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. Toto, known as "Jack," spent 25 years as a mechanic and operated a vegetable stand. -John J. Shanagher, 83, Bridgewater, N.J., died March 11, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. The World War II veteran worked as a milkman and mail carrier. Relatives said he often spoke of helping to liberate concentration camps in Europe. -Dorthea K. Hoagland, 80, Middlesex, N.J., died April 6, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. Hoagland was a homemaker. -Melvin T. Simcoe, 66, Green Brook, N.J., died May 5, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. Simcoe was a Korean War veteran and district manager for Bellcore of Livingston for 35 years. The father of four retired in the early 1990s and, his wife said, enjoyed growing flowers. -Michael T. Strenko, 21, Manville, N.J., died May 15, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. The former high school soccer and track team member worked packaging material for Fisher Scientific. His family said he was proud of his physique and his booming car stereo. -Florian J. Gall, 68, Whitehouse Station, N.J., died June 28, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. Gall was pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church in Whitehouse Station and Hunterdon County vicar for the Diocese of Metuchen. -Pasquale M. Napolitano, 80, Peapack-Gladstone, N.J., died July 13, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. Napolitano was a World War II veteran worked for 30 years as security manager for Village Supermarkets of Bernardsville and Morristown. -Christopher B. Hardgrove, 38, Somerville, N.J., died Aug. 11, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. He was a carpenter and father of two daughters. -KrishnakantUpadhyay, 70, Bridgewater, N.J., died Sept. 20, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. -James R. Strickland, 83, Bowie, Md., died Sept. 23, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. Family said he was grieving for his wife when he was killed. He loved playing harmonica so much that one was buried with him. -Edward P. Zizik, 73, Three Bridges, N.J., died Oct. 21, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. He was an electrical engineer for 30 years and also volunteered at Somerset Medical Center. The names, ages, residence of the patients involved and date of attempted murder, according to prosecutors: -John Gallagher, 90, of Bethlehem, Pa., attempted murder on Feb. 8, 2001, at St. Luke's Hospital. -Paul Galgon, 72, of Bethlehem, Pa., attempted murder on Dec. 28, 2001, at St. Luke's Hospital. -Jin Kyung Han, 40, Basking Ridge, N.J., attempted murder on June 29, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. -Frances Agoada, 83, Franklin Township, N.J., attempted murder on Aug. 27, 2003, at Somerset Medical Center. -Philip Gregor, 48, South Bound Brook, N.J., attempted murder at Somerset Medical Center of June 18, 2003. -Stella Danielczyk, 73, of Larksville, Pa., attempted murder in February 2000 at Lehigh Valley Hospital.
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