Kristen Gilbert | |
---|---|
Born | Kristen Heather Strickland November 13, 1967 |
Other names | "The Angel of Death" |
Occupation | Nurse |
Criminal status | Incarcerated |
Spouse |
Glenn Gilbert
(m. 1988; div. 1998) |
Children | 2 |
Motive | Attention seeking |
Conviction(s) | First degree murder (18 U.S.C. § 1111) (3 counts) Second degree murder (18 U.S.C. § 1111) Assault with intent to commit murder (18 U.S.C. § 113) (2 counts) |
Criminal penalty | Four consecutive life sentences without parole, plus 20 years |
Details | |
Victims | 4+ |
Span of crimes | 1995 – 1996 (Gilbert is suspected of deaths dating back to 1989) |
Country | United States |
State(s) | Massachusetts |
Imprisoned at | FMC Carswell |
Kristen Heather Gilbert (née Strickland; born November 13, 1967) is an American serial killer and former nurse who was convicted of four murders and two attempted murders of patients admitted to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Northampton, Massachusetts.[1] She induced cardiac arrest in patients by injecting their intravenous therapy bags with lethal doses of epinephrine, commonly known as adrenaline, which is an untraceable heart stimulant. She would then respond to the coded emergency, often resuscitating the patients herself. Prosecutors said Gilbert was on duty for about half of the 350 deaths that occurred at the hospital from when she started working there in 1989, and that the odds of this merely being a coincidence were 1 in 100 million.[2][3] However, her only confirmed victims were Stanley Jagodowski, Henry Hudon, Kenneth Cutting, and Edward Skwira.[4][5][6][7][8]