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Shadow of Death - Nurse in Canada Killed 8 Patients · Murder Files Unsealed

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Speaker 1: Ever get that shiver, you know, that feeling when you
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realize something truly awful, just awful, what's happening right under
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everyone's noses. We're about to dive into a case and
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it's a big one that I'll have you questioning everything
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you thought, everything you thought you knew about trust and vulnerability. Yeah,
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and even those places, those places we assume are safe.
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Speaker 2: It's one of those cases, you know, the ones, I mean,
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the ones that stay with you. And it's not just
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not just the horrific acts, No, it's what it reveals.
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What it reveals about the systems, the systems we all
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rely on every day, and the shadows, the shatters that
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can lurk even in the most unexpected places. It gets
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you thinking, it really does.
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Speaker 1: We're talking Elizabeth Vetloafer Vettlaufer. That name sends chills down
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the spines of so many Canadians, so many. On the surface,
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an ordinary nurse, but underneath, underneath it all, a serial killer,
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a serial killer who preyed on, well, prayed on the
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elderly in her care.
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Speaker 2: Can you imagine? And that's what makes this case, this
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case particularly disturbing, is not you know, it's not some
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isolated incident. No, not at all. It throws open the doors,
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throws the wide open to a question, a very real
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and very frightening question. How vulnerable are those those under
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the supposed care of institutions, especially especially when those institutions
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are grappling, really grappling with systemic issues themselves.
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Speaker 1: Okay, okay, so let's let's break this, Dallas, unpack this.
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We're talking nursing homes, right places meant for compassion for care.
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Place do you think are safe? How does someone how
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does someone like Vet law For operate undetected in that
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kind of environment?
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Speaker 2: For years in twenty seven and twenty fourteen, vetlau For
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she used her position, her position as a nurse, to
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administer well to administer fatal doses of insulin to her victims,
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and sadly, so sadly, their deaths were often attributed to,
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you know, to natural causes. It's a chilling reminder, a
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chilling reminder of just how easy it is to overlook
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the signs, to overlook those important signs when you're dealing with,
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you know, with an aging population. It happens more than
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you'd think.
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Speaker 1: Okay, hold on, hold on a second, because this is
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where the story. This is where it takes a truly
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busy our turn. In twenty sixteen Wet Lover, she checks herself,
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get this, she checks herself into a mental health facility
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and get this. Ready for this, she confesses, She confesses.
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You'd think that's that's it, right, game over?
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Speaker 3: Case closed?
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Speaker 2: Not quite, not quite. On September sixteenth, twenty sixteenth. September sixteenth,
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she was admitted to the Center for Addiction and Mental Health.
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It's in Toronto, and she gave this this rambling, this
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disturbing account of the deaths, the deaths of several patients
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under her care. But here's the thing. Her confessions they
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were so outlandish, so unsettling, so strange that the staff,
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even the staff, they question their validity. Can you imagine, Wait.
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Speaker 1: So they didn't believe her at first. A confessed killer,
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a confessed killer is sitting right there, right there in
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front of them, and they're what they're hesitant.
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Speaker 2: It sounds unbelievable, I know it does. But imagine just
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imagine being in that room trying trying to decipher truth,
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the truth from a mind, from a mind that's so
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clearly disturbed. It's it's more difficult than you might think.
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While they did, they did report the confession to the police,
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it still took it took additional investigation. Oh and a
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crucial tip, a crucial tip from a former friend to finally,
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finally unravel the horrifying truth and bring Vettlaufer to justice.
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It's it's unbelievable.
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Speaker 1: This isn't just a case of you know, one bad apple, though,
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is it. It can't be. The source material. It mentions
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systemic failures, that's what it calls them, systemic failures that
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allowed this to happen in the first place. So what
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exactly does that mean? How could this, this whole thing,
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How could it go unnoticed for so long?
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Speaker 2: You're right, You're right a question that it goes, It
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goes much deeper than just one person the source material.
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It reveals this chronic, chronic understaffing crisis within within Canadian
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nursing homes, and it's it's making proper oversight almost almost impossible.
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Imagine just imagine overwork staff mountains and mountains of paperwork
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and not enough simply not enough eyes on the ground. Well,
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it's a recipe for disaster, isn't it. It creates this
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perfect storm for someone for someone like vet Laufer to
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come in and just exploite the cracks, the cracks in
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the system.
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Speaker 1: It's terrifying, isn't It's terrifying to think how many other
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how many other facilities might be might be stretched this thin,
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you know, unknowingly, unknowingly putting vulnerable lives at risk. Okay,
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so we've got this, This seemingly ordinary nurse right revealed
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to be a serial killer, operating undetected within a system,
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a system riddled with its own problems. Wow, okay, So
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what can you tell us about vetlau for herself? Was
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there was there anything in her past, anything a doll
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that hinted at this, at this darkness inside her?
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Speaker 2: That's that's the question, isn't it The question that haunts, well,
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that haunts this entire case. How how could someone like
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this exist, hidden, hidden in plain sight. It's a question.
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We keep coming back to the source material, what we've
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been looking at. It paints a picture, a picture of
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a woman, a woman grappling, grappling with these deep seated,
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deep seated personal demons. Born in nineteen sixty seven, vett
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Laufer's early life, well, it was reportedly trouble there was
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a lot going on.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, the source material, it dives into her, her upbringing,
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right into it. And a close friend, someone who knew her,
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described her family as well as devoutly religious, part of
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part of a strict, strict fundamentalist Baptist community. And apparently
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on top of that, she was she was bullyed quite
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a bit as a child. A lot to unpack, there,
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a lot to unpack.
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Speaker 2: It's tempting, isn't it, to draw a straight line, a
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straight line from a troubled past to well to horrific
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acts like this. But it's it's never that simple, is it.
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We have to be careful. We have to be careful
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not to give the impression that a difficult a difficult
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upbringing excuses anything.
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Speaker 4: No, not at all.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely, it's it's not about excusing anything. No, it's
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about understanding, understanding the context. Right. But this this friend,
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this friend that we're talking about. They also mentioned something else,
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something else that really that really stuck with me. Apparently
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Vet law Fer. She struggled, she struggled with her sexuality
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and her family's reaction. Well, let's just say it wasn't
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exactly it wasn't exactly supportive.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, the source material it touches on this. According to
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the friend Vettlaufer's family, they sent her, get this, they
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sent her to gay conversion therapy. She's just a teenager
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in her late teens. It's well, it's a practice that's
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widely condemned, widely condemned as harmful, as ineffective, as as wrong.
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Speaker 1: Wait wait wait, gay conversion therapy? What what exactly is that?
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I mean, I've heard the term, but.
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Speaker 2: This source, this source describes it as torture. That's that's intense.
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Help me, help me understand this, because this, this seems
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like this seems like a crucial, a crucial piece of
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the puzzle here. You're right to tone in on that.
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You're right, it was well, it was a horrific practice, really,
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and it was aimed at aimed at changing a person's
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changing a person's sexual orientation, and it often involved well,
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it often involved psychological manipulation and and even even physical abuse.
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It's it's hard to even imagine. Well, it's while it's
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impossible to say say definitively how this experience, how this
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specific experience impacted Vet Lawfer. The trauma, the trauma associated
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with such practices was it's well documented, there's no doubt
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about that.
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Speaker 1: So we're starting to see a pattern here, a pattern
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of a trouble passed right, mental health struggles, and then
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this this horrific, this horrific attempt to suppress a fundamental,
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a fundamental part of who she was. It's it's hard
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to imagine really, the internal the internal pressure, the pressure
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that must that must create. But how how does all
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of this, How does all of this connect to the
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murders themselves? How do you go from how do you
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go from a trouble, a troubled individual, an individual who's
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clearly struggling, to taking to taking the lives of eight
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elderly patients.
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Speaker 2: That's that's where the investigation, the investigation into her time,
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her time at the care facilities, that's where it becomes,
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it becomes crucial. Where she was. She was employed at
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various nursing homes from two thousand and seven, two thousand
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and seven to twenty fourteen. And what's what's chilling, what's
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truly chilling, is that her her role, her role is
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a nurse. It gave her, it gave her access access
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to medications, powerful, powerful drugs that that in the wrong
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dosage well, they could be, they can be fatal.
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Speaker 1: She she had access, she had access to these medications,
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so she was she was actively she was actively in
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a position, in position to carry out these these unthinkable,
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these unthinkable acts.
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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, she was. And the source material it reveals,
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it reveals that she used that she used insulin, insulin,
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a medication, a medication meant to regulate, to regulate blood
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sugar levels, and she used it as as her murder weapon.
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Speaker 1: Insulin. Wouldn't that wouldn't that be easy easy to trace?
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I mean, given given her job and all, It's not
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like it's not like it's some some obscure medication.
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Speaker 2: You'd think so, wouldn't you. But institutional settings, especially especially
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those caring, those caring for the elderly, they can be well,
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they can be tragically, tragically good at masking these sorts
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of things. Death, even even unexpected death. It's well, it's
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not exactly unheard of in those environments, is it. It's sadly,
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sadly common.
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Speaker 1: So so it's it's easier. It's easier to miss something,
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to miss something like to write it off, to write
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it off as natural causes, especially especially if someone is
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if someone is deliberately, liberately trying trying to make it
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look that.
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Speaker 2: Way, precisely, precisely. And that's that's the truly, that's the
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truly insidious aspect of of this entire case. Vettlaufer she
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she exploited a system, a system that was already that
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was already stretched thin, a system where where overwork staff
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they may have missed, they may have missed subtle signs
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or or dismissed them as as as part of part
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of the natural the natural aging process. And it's it's heartbreaking, really,
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it is heartbreaking, it really really is. But what's what's
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even more disturbing, what's even more disturbing, is that vet
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Lofer she she actually confessed, she confessed to all of this.
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So did she did she offer any any explanation, any
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explanation at all for her actions? Was there was there
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any remorse, any remorse at all. That's that's where it
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gets well, that's where it gets even more even more unsettling.
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In her in her confession and later later in court,
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vetlau For she offered, she offered glimpses, glimpses into her
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twisted or twisted rationale instead instead of for more she
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she described this, this feeling, this feeling of righteousness, this
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belief that that she was doing something, that she was
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doing something necessary, even even merciful, merciful.
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Speaker 1: She she actually she actually used that word that that's terrifying.
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It's it's almost it's almost like she had like she
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had convinced herself that she was some some kind of
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some kind of angel.
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Speaker 2: Of death in a way. In a way, yes, she
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even she even spoke of a red surge, a kind
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of kind of divine message, a divine message that she
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that she claimed that she claimed drove her, drove her
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to commit these to commit these.
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Speaker 1: Acts, a red surge that that sends chills, chills down
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my spine. It's as if as if she was trying
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to trying to justify, to justify her actions, her actions
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through some through some higher power, as if she was
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trying to absolve, to absolve herself of responsibility.
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Speaker 2: Precisely precisely. It's it's a chilling reminder, a chilling reminder
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that even even in the face of in the face
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of overwhelming, overwhelming evidence, the human mind, the human mind
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can find ways and can find ways to rationalize, to
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rationalize even the most the most horrific acts. But what's
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what's crucial to remember, what's absolute crucial to remember here
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is that this case, this case goes goes beyond, it
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goes beyond the actions the actions of one of one,
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deeply of one, deeply disturbed the deeply disturbed individual.
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Speaker 1: You're right, You're right. This this isn't this isn't just
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about just about one person's one person's crimes, is it. No,
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This this points to to a much to a much
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bigger issue. You keep you keep saying that that this case,
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this case goes, it goes way beyond beyond just one person,
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one bad apple, And I have to agree with you. So, so,
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what what can we what can we learn from all
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of this? What's the what's the takeaway here? What's the
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takeaway for those of us listening, those of us who
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who might have you know, loved ones, parents, grandparents in
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these types of these types of care facilities.
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Speaker 5: That's that's the question, isn't it the question that that
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keeps that keeps me up at No, I have to admit,
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on the surface, on the surface, it's it's easy, it's
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very easy to dismiss all of this, right to dismiss
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this as just just the actions of a single, single, deprived,
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deprived individual. But the the source material what we've been
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looking at it it paints a much a much more,
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much more systemic picture.
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Speaker 4: The vet La the case, this case, it exposed, it
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really exposed this deeply, deeply unsett uncerting underbelly of of
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long term care. It revealed, it revealed these cracks.
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Speaker 5: These cracks that if they're left unchecked, well, they could
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they could have they could have disastrous, disastrous consequences. And
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that's that's the truly truly frightening part, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: The source material it called them systemic failures, right, That's
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that's the term. It used, systemic failures. And and not
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just you know, not just a one time or one
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time oversay. No, it called them deep rooted, deep rooted problems.
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So so, what what needs to what needs to change,
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I guess is the question to prevent to prevent something
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like like this, like this whole horrific thing from from
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happening from happening again.
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Speaker 2: Well, it's about it's about vigilance, vigilance on on multiple
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on multiple lezzls. Really for starters, we need to we
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need to address the well the elephant in the room.
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Don't we we need to address staffing when when facility,
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when these care facilities are stretched, stretched so thin, with
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with overworked, with overworked nurses and aids who are who
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are responsible for for way too many, too many patients, Well,
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it creates this, It creates this environment, this environment that
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is that is ripe, right for mistakes, right for oversights,
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and and yes, even even malicious malicious intent. It's it's
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a it's a breeding ground really when you think about it.
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So so more staff, more staff is needed, and better
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better training, anything else?
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Speaker 6: What else can we do?
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, the the investigation, the investigation into the vet Law
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FORER case, it revealed, it revealed these lacks, these lax
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medication medication control protocols. Think you just think about it
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for a second. Someone someone with with access with access
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to these these powerful, powerful drugs, minimal minimal oversight, and
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and the system a whole system that doesn't that doesn't catch,
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that doesn't catch discrepancies, discrepancies easily. It's it's a recipe.
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It's a recipe for disasters. There's no other way to
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put it.
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Speaker 7: And and it's it's terrifying, isn't it to think to
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think that this, this could be, this could be happening,
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happening right now, and other places and other facilities, and
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and and we don't even we don't even know, No
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one even knows.
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Speaker 1: So so we we need to be we need to
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be more aware, more aware of these these vulnerabilities, these
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vulnerabilities in the system, in the whole system. But what
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what can what can we do about it? You know,
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what can we the average person? What can we do?
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It feels it feels so so big, so so systemic.
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What can we actually do?
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Speaker 8: You're you're right, it's it's not it's not about it's
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not about simple, simple solutions. No, it's it's much it's
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much bigger than that. It's about it's about collective, collective responsibility.
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That's what it really comes down to. We need to
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we need to advocate, We need to advocate for for
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better better staffing ratios, better ratios in these facilities and
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all these facilities. We need to push we need to
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push for for stricter, much stricter medication medication control can
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control protocols, and and we need to demand we need
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to demand greater, much greater transparency, transparency and accountability, accountability,
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from the from the institutions, the institutions that are that
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are entrusted, that are entrusted with the care, with the
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care of of our of our most vulnerable are miserable citizens.
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It's it's about it's about demanding better, demanding better for
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those those who who can't, who can't always you can't
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always demand it for for themselves. And that's on us,
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that's on all of us.
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Speaker 1: This, this deep dive, this whole this whole thing, it's
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been it's been disturbing, disturbing to say, to say the
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least they have to say. But you're right, You're absolutely right.
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Awareness Awareness is key here. Awareness is is everything. This case,
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this case should be, it should be a wake up call,
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a wake up call for for all of us, for
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all of us. It's a reminder, a reminder to to look,
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to look beyond, beyond the surface, right to ask, to
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ask the tough questions, the questions that that maybe make
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us uncomfortable, but that need to be asked. And to
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never and I mean never ever, ever be afraid be
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afraid to speak up, to speak up when something, when
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something feels, something feels wrong, because because behind behind the headlines,
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behind the court cases. Behind behind all of that are
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are real lives, real real families, families that are that
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are forever, forever shattered shattered by this, this unthinkable, this
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unthinkable tragedy.
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Speaker 6: And that's that's what makes what makes this case, this
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whole case, so so profoundly, profoundly impactful. It forces us,
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It forces us to confront, to confront not just not
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just the darkness, the darkness that that exists, that exists
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in the world, in all of us, really, but but
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our own role, our own role in in safeguarding, safeguarding
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against it.
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Speaker 2: It's a it's a call. It's a call to action,
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a call to action for for families, for for communities,
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for for societies as a whole, really, to prioritize, to
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prioritize the care, the care and the protection, the protection
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of the elderly, to ensure to ensure that that their
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their twilight years, their twilight years are are met met
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with dignity, with with respect, and above all, above all,
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with safety, with safety.
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Speaker 3: It's a it's a heavy, heavy thought to end on,
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I know, but an important one, an important one. If
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if this, if this deep dive, if this whole thing
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has has taught us anything, it's that, it's that evil.
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Evil often, evil often thrives, thrives in silence.
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Speaker 1: So so, if you have, if you have a loved one,
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a loved one in a in a in a care facility,
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any care facility, please check in on them, check in
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on them. Ask, ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions,
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the tough questions. And trust trust your gut. Trust, trust
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your gut. Don't don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to
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make some noise. You know, to make some noise. There's safety,
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there's safety. Might it just might, depend depend on it