A trial date will be set in two weeks’ time for the former nurse charged in the deaths of eight patients at long-term care facilities in southwestern Ontario.
Elizabeth Wettlaufer, 49, appeared in Woodstock court Friday morning via video link. She faces a total of 14 charges, including eight counts of first-degree murder, for deaths that occurred at long-term care facilities in Woodstock and London over the last decade.
READ MORE: Elizabeth Wettlaufer, charged in deaths of 8 seniors, once fired over medication errors: documents
During Friday’s proceedings, Wettlaufer waived her right to a preliminary hearing in the case. Her next court date is set for April 21 when a trial date will be set.
Authorities allege Wettlaufer used drugs to kill the seniors at the facilities she worked at.
Court documents released in March show the former nurse had been suspended from a long-term care home several times for medication-related errors before she was fired for giving a patient the wrong drugs.
The documents show Wettlaufer was fired from the Caressant Care nursing home in Woodstock after an alleged incident in which she incorrectly and overly medicated a resident, who “experienced distress” as a result. In a letter of termination cited in the documents, the nursing home says the alleged incident was part of a “pattern of behaviours that are placing residents at risk.”
In January, Wettlaufer was charged with six additional counts related to seniors in her care, including four charges of attempted murder and two of aggravated assault. Court documents allege Wettlaufer injected those six alleged victims with insulin.
READ MORE: What we know about the Woodstock nurse charged with killing 8 nursing home residents
Records from the College of Nurses of Ontario show Wettlaufer was first registered as a nurse in August 1995 but resigned Sept. 30, 2016, and is no longer a registered nurse.
In all, the incidents are said to have occurred between 2007 and 2016.
The allegations against Wettlaufer have not been proven in court.
Comments