More murder charges laid against Canadian nurse

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont. (AA) - A Canadian nurse faces six new charges in connection with the murders of patients in nursing homes, Canadian media reported Friday.

Elizabeth Wettlaufer, already charged with the first-degree murders of eight seniors in long-term care facilities in the province of Ontario, is now charged with four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault, Ontario Provincial Police said, as reported by the Canadian Press wire service.

The former nurse made a court appearance Friday in Woodstock, Ont., about 138 kilometers (85 miles) west of Toronto.

CTV News reported that families of the victims reacted with horror at seeing Wettlaufer in the courtroom.

“As far as we’re concerned, he’s a monster,” Laura Jackson told CTV. Jackson is a close friend of the family of Maurice Granat, 84, one of those Wettlaufer is accused of murdering.

Police allege the former nurse, 49, used drugs to kill the seniors between 2007 and 2014 when she worked at facilities in Woodstock and nearby London.

“There are obviously a number of drugs that are stored and available in long-term facilities,” OPP Det. Supt. Dave Truax said at a news conference when the former nurse was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in October. “Subsequent to our investigation, part of the evidence for this particular matter, all I’m able to say at this time was that a drug was administered.”