Nurse who killed 29 sentenced to 11 life terms

updated 5:42 p.m. ET March 2, 2006

SOMERVILLE, N.J. - A nurse who killed at least 29 patients was sent to prison for the rest of his life Thursday after his victims’ loved ones angrily branded him “vermin,” “garbage” and a “monster” who ruined lives and shattered their faith in the medical profession.

Charles Cullen — one of the most prolific killers the U.S. health care industry has ever seen — escaped the death penalty after making a deal with prosecutors to tell them which patients he killed with hard-to-detect drug injections.

He received 11 consecutive life terms at a tense and sometimes turbulent hearing in which he came face-to-face with his victims’ families for the first time. Wearing a bulletproof vest under his sweater, Cullen sat quietly as relatives wept and yelled at him from a lectern about 15 feet from where he sat.

“You betrayed the ancient foundations of the healing professions,” Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong said as Cullen stood motionless, his eyes closed.

Cullen, 46, pleaded guilty to murdering 22 people in New Jersey and trying to kill three others. He will be sentenced later for seven murders and three attempted murders in Pennsylvania.

Career lasted 16 years
Cullen has claimed to have killed up to 40 people during a career that spanned 16 years and 10 nursing homes and hospitals.

He was fired from five nursing jobs and resigned from two others amid questions about his performance. But he always managed to find another job, in part because hospitals did not share their suspicions for fear of being sued.

New Jersey lawmakers have since passed legislation protecting nursing homes and hospitals from legal action when reporting disciplinary actions taken against employees.

About 60 relatives of the victims attended the sentencing, calling him “trash,” “one pathetic little man” and “an agent from the deepest depths of Hell.” As the family members spoke, he kept his eyes closed, frustrating some of the relatives.

“In case he forgot what my mother looked like, look into my eyes now,” said Richard J. Stoecker, whose mother was murdered in 2003.

NBC News Jean Haff, the relative of one of Charles Cullen's victims, confronts the former nurse during his sentencing Thursday.

Some family members said they wished Cullen could die as his victims did, by lethal injection.

“I want you to die tomorrow so that you can meet God tomorrow because guess what? There ain’t no door out of hell, baby,” said Debra Yetter Medina, the granddaughter of victim Mary Natoli.

Cullen declined to make a statement, telling the judge he had “nothing to say” and disappointing families who had hoped to hear him explain why he committed the crimes.

'We will never feel safe in a hospital'
John Shanagher, whose father was murdered, said his family “will never feel safe in a hospital again. We will never feel we can trust the medical profession again.”

Dolores Stasienko of Kitty Hawk, N.C., said Cullen “will always be known as the monster.” She held a photo of her father, Giacomino “Jack” Toto, 89, who was murdered in 2003.

“After today, we will finally toss aside his name and face, like the garbage he is,” said Emily Stoecker, whose mother-in-law, Eleanor, was killed.

Other relatives talked of how the killings ruined marriages, careers and report cards.

“My heart, it aches for my son,” said Mary Strenko, whose 21-year-old son was Charles Cullen’s youngest victim. “I walk around with a hole in my heart.”

Cullen has admitted to using lethal doses of medications — usually the heart medication digoxin — to kill patients. He told authorities when he was arrested in 2003 that he killed “very sick” patients, and described the slayings as mercy killings.

MORE FROM CRIME & COURTS

Crime & courts Section Front

Raid nets 300 suspected illegal immigrants   'Precious Doe' murder trial: Mom testifies Deputy wanted in slaying caught in Iowa   Police: Teen plotted to bomb family Placid exterior hid L.A. murder-suicide Judge: Let Chinese Muslims in Gitmo into U.S. Lawyer denies signaling client in Stevens case University chief busted for Bloody Marys Police: Woman kills self, daughters More jail in human smuggling case Crime & courts Section Front   Add Crime & courts headlines to your news reader: