Nurse pleads guilty to killing patients, sentenced to hundreds of years in prison

BUTLER COUNTY, Pa. — A former nurse in Pennsylvania who pleaded guilty to killing or trying to kill more than a dozen patients was sentenced this week for her crimes.

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Heather Pressdess, of Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of criminal attempt to commit murder, Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a news release.

Pressdee admitted she gave either lethal doses or potentially lethal doses of insulin to 22 patients at several different medical facilities in Western Pennsylvania. Many of the patients died shortly after the fatal dose was administered.

In some instances, Pressdees injected patients with insulin more than once because they didn’t die the first time, WPXI reported.

The victims’ ages were between 43 and 104 years old.

The investigations into her patients’ deaths started in 2022. She was arrested in May 2023.

The former nurse was given three consecutive life sentences for the three counts of first-degree murder. She also received 380 to 760 years of consecutive sentences for the 19 other counts against her, Henry said. Pressdee has no possibility of parole, WPXI reported.

“The defendant used her position of trust as a means to poison patients who depended on her for care,” Henry said in the news release. “This plea and life sentence will not bring back the lives lost, but it will ensure Heather Pressdee never has another opportunity to inflict further harm. I offer my sincere sympathy to all who have suffered at this defendant’s hands. I commend my agents and investigators, and assisting agencies, who meticulously worked this investigation to uncover the defendant’s terrible acts.”

Pressdee worked at 11 different nursing homes over 4 1/2 years, WPXI reported.

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