Pennsylvania Nurse Sentenced 760-Year Jail Term For Killing Patients By Giving High Doses Of Insulin

Pennsylvania: A nurse in Pennsylvania was sentenced to life in prison as she had administered lethal or potentially lethal doses of insulin to numerous patients.

The accused identified as Heather Pressdee, 41, was given three consecutive life sentences and another consecutive term of 380 to 760 years behind bars during a hearing in Butler in Pennsylvania.

She is responsible for the deaths of 17 patients who she administered high doses of insulin at five rehabilitation centers across Pennsylvania between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said. The victims aged from 43 to 104.

Ms. Pressdee was initially charged in May 2023 with killing two nursing home patients and injuring a third. Later she admitted to trying killing a total of 19 patients.

Pressdee, who could have faced a death sentence, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted murder. As part of the plea agreement, she was sentenced to three consecutive terms of life in prison and another consecutive prison term of 380 to 760 years on the attempted murder charges, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.

In a criminal complaint filed in November, prosecutors said Ms. Pressdee administered excessive amounts of insulin to patients, usually during overnight shifts when staffing was low.

Some patients were diabetic, others were not. If a patient did not die, Ms. Pressdee would take additional measures to kill the person, by administering a second dose of insulin or through “the use of an air embolism,” when one or more air bubbles blocks a vein or artery, according to the complaint as reported by Associated Press.