Summary The court heard that Wettlaufer had been suffering from extreme anger over her job and life
OTTAWA (AFP) - A former nurse pleaded guilty Thursday to the killing of eight elderly residents under her care at Canadian retirement homes, closing one of the worst serial murder cases in the nation s history.
Elizabeth Wettlaufer, shackled in a prisoner box inside a packed courtroom, answered simply "yes" when a judge asked if she had committed the premeditated murders.
She also admitted to four other attempted murders and two assaults.
The court heard that Wettlaufer had been suffering from extreme anger over her job and life.
She put to rest speculation that she had acted on behalf of the patients, saying her victims did not consent to being administered insulin overdoses.
Canada legalized doctor-assisted suicide four months before Wettlaufer s arrest in October 2016.
The short, stout and bespectacled 49-year-old now faces life in prison.
The killings of the eight men and women aged 75 to 96 occurred between 2007 and 2014 at two care facilities in Ontario province where Wettlaufer worked, often in charge of night shifts.
The case came to light only after she had confessed in online postings and then to a psychiatrist who tipped off police.
She had been a registered nurse since 1995 but surrendered her medical license just prior to her arrest.
The daughter of one of the victims told local media that her mother suffered from Alzheimer s and was in a coma shortly before her death.
Others expressed shock at the news.
"My dad got murdered," the daughter of one of the victims told public broadcaster CBC. "When am I just going to pop out of this and say, Hey, this is a great day? Never. This is going to be with me forever."
