Pa. Nurse Charged with Killing 2 Patients Confesses to 19 Other Attempted Murders, Say Police

Former nurse Heather Pressdee was arrested in May on homicide and other charges for allegedly prescribing excessive insulin to patients

A former Pennsylvania nurse, who was arrested in May on homicide and other charges, has confessed to trying to kill 19 other people, according to authorities.

On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office announced dozens of new charges against Heather Pressdee, 41, who was previously accused of having prescribed excessive amounts of insulin to patients, ultimately killing two patients and hospitalizing a third.

“Today, the Office of Attorney General filed charges regarding mistreatment of 19 additional patients at five different care facilities between 2020 and this year,” a November 2 press release read.

“Pressdee is accused of administering excessive amounts of insulin to these patients, some of whom were diabetic and required insulin, and some of whom were not. In total, seventeen patients died who had been cared for by Pressdee,” the release added.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed November 2, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said Pressdee, of Natrona Heights, had admitted to trying to kill 19 other patients with insulin at five different rehabilitation centers.

“It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement shared on Facebook Thursday.

“The damage done to the victims and their loved ones cannot be overstated. Every person in a medical or care facility should feel safe and cared for, and my office will work tirelessly to hold Pressdee accountable for her crimes and protect care-dependent Pennsylvanians from future harm.”

The victims ranged in age from 43 to 104. “Pressdee typically administered the insulin during overnight shifts when staffing was low and the emergencies would not prompt immediate hospitalization,” the release added, with Henry also calling the allegations “disturbing.”

In total, Pressdee has been charged regarding her mistreatment of 22 patients. The charges include two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person.

According to the release, the alleged crimes happened at the following facilities: Concordia at Rebecca Residence, Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation (Guardian), Quality Life Services Chicora, Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Pressdee was arraigned on Thursday and waived her preliminary hearing on these charges. She remains in custody at Butler County Prison without bail.

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In May, Pressdee was arraigned on two counts of homicide, one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault, three counts of neglect of a care-dependent person and three counts of reckless endangerment.

Per a May 25 press release from the Attorney General’s Office, the alleged acts happened at Quality Life Services, a skilled nursing facility in Chicora where Pressdee worked as a registered nurse.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, according to a criminal complaint, a 55-year-old man died on Dec. 4, 2022 and an 83-year-old man died on Dec. 25, 2022.

A third alleged victim, a 73-year-old man, survived after “emergency hospitalization,” as a result of the “potentially lethal dose of insulin he received on Aug. 31, 2022,” according to the release, which stated two of the three men were not diabetic.

Per the complaint, an investigation began after one of the alleged victim’s relatives claimed that Pressdee had been improperly administering insulin to patients in her care.

During questioning about the alleged victims, Pressdee allegedly said she “felt bad for their quality of life and she had hoped that they would slip into a coma and pass away,” the complaint stated. According to a nurse at the facility, Pressdee also allegedly told her that one of the patients who later died, identified in the complaint as J.B., "would be better off dead."

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