SOMERVILLE, N.J. – A nurse who claimed to have killed as many as 40 patients has been ordered to serve 11 life terms.
On March 2, Charles Cullen, 46, was sentenced by a judge in New Jersey for the murders of 22 people and the attempted murder of three others in the Garden State.
He also pleaded guilty to seven killings and three attempted murders in Pennsylvania and is scheduled to be sentenced for those crimes at a later date.
Cullen, who began his nursing career in 1987, used lethal doses of medications to kill his victims at 10 medical facilities in seven counties. To avoid the death penalty, he pleaded guilty and agreed to help investigators solve the murders he committed.
Prior to his arrest, he quit two nursing jobs after being investigated for suspcious activities. He also was fired from five other positions. Despite his spotty reputation with former employers, he could always find work because the facilities did not share their employment records.
The victims’ families have filed 20 lawsuits against Cullen’s former employers.
