A Pennsylvania nurse who administered lethal or potentially lethal doses of insulin to numerous patients avoided the death penalty after pleading guilty to three counts of murder.
Heather Pressdee, 41, received three consecutive life sentences and another consecutive sentence of 380 to 760 years behind bars during a hearing in Butler, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.
When one of his attorneys asked him why he was pleading guilty, Pressdee responded, “Because I’m guilty.”
She played a role in the deaths of at least 17 patients living at five health care facilities in four counties between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said.
The 22 victims in total were between 43 and 104 years old. Coworkers often questioned Pressdee’s behavior and said she frequently showed disdain for her patients and made derogatory comments about them, authorities said.
Family members were quick to criticize the ailing “Angel of Death” as he listened to them testify at his sentencing Thursday. One said: ‘She’s not sick. She’s not crazy. She is the personification of evil. …’I myself looked into Satan’s face the morning she killed my father.’
Heather Pressdee, 41, received three consecutive life sentences and another consecutive sentence of 380 to 760 years behind bars during a hearing in Butler, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Pressdee, who could have faced a death sentence, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted murder.
She was initially charged in May 2023 with killing two nursing home patients and wounding a third.
A further investigation led to dozens more charges against him. During a hearing in February in which he argued with his attorneys, he indicated that he wanted to plead guilty.
Pressdee said little as he presented his pleas, answering most questions with a single word.
The plea hearing was expected to last until 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 sick, none were ready to die.
Pressdee did not look at the speakers or react to their comments, even when one yelled an insult at her that caused the courtroom to erupt in applause, according to news reports.
She was charged with the murders of Irene Simons, 78, (pictured) and Sandra Lincoln, 82, who died after unnecessary doses of insulin last year.
When one of his attorneys asked him why he was pleading guilty, Pressdee responded, “Because I’m guilty.”
Prosecutors alleged that Pressdee, of Harrison, administered excessive amounts of insulin to 22 patients, including some who were not diabetic.
He typically administered insulin during night shifts, when staff were short and emergencies did not result in immediate hospitalization. Most patients died shortly after receiving the insulin dose, or some time later.
Her nursing license was suspended early last year, shortly after the initial charges were filed.
According court documentsPressdee sent text messages to her mother between April 2022 and May 2023 in which she discussed her unhappiness with various patients and colleagues, and discussed possible harm.
He also expressed similar complaints about people he encountered in restaurants and other places.
Pressdee had a history of being “disciplined for abusive behavior toward patients and/or staff at each facility, resulting in her resignation or termination,” prosecutors said in court papers.
Beginning in 2018, Pressdee held various jobs at nursing homes and facilities in western Pennsylvania for short periods, according to the documents.
She was charged with the murders of Irene Simons, 78, and Sandra Lincoln, 82, who died after unnecessary doses of insulin last year.
This image provided by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office shows Heather Pressdee
A typical room at the Quality of Life Services facility located in Chicora, Pennsylvania.
Their families filed separate wrongful death lawsuits against Sunnyview Operating LLC and Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center last month.
They claim the companies were negligent, careless or reckless in hiring Pressdee ‘despite his alarming history of abusing residents at ten previous facilities, including injuries and/or deaths of at least sixteen residents at the other facilities.’
DailyMail.com has contacted Sunnyview Operating LLC and Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for comment.