"Yes, Your Honor": Charles Cullen's First Guilty Plea, 2004
Sworn in before about 60 victims' relatives, former nurse Charles Cullen admitted in court that he injected a patient with digoxin intending to kill her.
- Subject
- Charles Cullen
- Recorded
- about April 29, 2004
- Runtime
- 2:25
Content warning: Concerns the deliberate killing of hospital patients.
The Interview
On April 29, 2004, Charles Cullen, a 44-year-old former nurse, stood in New Jersey Superior Court in Somerville and pleaded guilty to murdering 13 patients and attempting to kill two others at Somerset Medical Center. About 60 relatives of patients were in the courtroom. In this AP footage he is sworn in, states his name, confirms the terms of the plea agreement and tells the judge he is pleading guilty because he is guilty. His lawyer then questions him about one patient, Eleanor Stoecker, and Cullen answers "Yes" to each question, naming the drug he used: digoxin.
Historical Context
Cullen worked as a nurse for 16 years at nine hospitals and a nursing home in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was repeatedly fired or allowed to resign amid questions about his practices, but was always able to find another job. Somerset Medical Center fired him on October 31, 2003. He was arrested in December 2003, charged with one murder and two attempted murders, and told investigators that he had killed 30 to 40 patients.
Circumstances of the Interview
The plea was the first under an agreement with prosecutors from seven counties, five in New Jersey and two in Pennsylvania. In exchange for his guilty pleas and his cooperation in identifying victims, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. The judge refers in the clip to arrangements for Cullen to be moved to Pennsylvania to face charges there.
What the Interview Covers
The clip shows the oath, the judge's questions about the plea agreement, and the factual basis for one count. Defence attorney Johnnie Mask asks whether Cullen injected Ms. Stoecker with any medication, whether he intended her to die, whether he had access to her at Somerset Medical Center and acted without authorisation, and whether she died. Cullen answers yes to each and twice names digoxin. The judge accepts the plea and says sentencing will be scheduled so that the terms of the agreement can be carried out.
What Makes the Recording Significant
This was the first time Cullen admitted guilt in court. His answers are brief, but they turned his confession to investigators into a guilty plea before the families. Later pleas under the same agreement brought the total to 29 murders and six attempted murders. In March 2006 he was sentenced to 18 consecutive life terms in New Jersey and six more in Pennsylvania.
Archival Importance
Recordings of Cullen speaking are few. Apart from court footage, the best known are his 2013 prison interview with CBS's 60 Minutes and his December 2003 police interviews, later used in documentaries. This clip records his voice at the moment the case moved from confession to conviction.
Important Caveats
Cullen says only a few words in the clip; most of the speech is the judge's, the clerk's and his lawyer's. The clip is an edit of a longer hearing and covers the factual basis for only one of the counts. The judge is not named in the clip. AP's header date of April 30, 2004 is the date of the news feed; the hearing was the day before.
Judge: His questions have been answered to his satisfaction. The parties acknowledge that this is the [unclear: "encounter up to" / "SAR"]... Mr. Cullen, [unclear: "swear" / "stand up"].
Court Clerk: You do swear the testimony you shall give to the court in this matter to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Charles Cullen: I do.
Court Clerk: Please state your full name.
Charles Cullen: Charles Cullen.
Court Clerk: And you spell it C-U-L-L-E-N, is that correct?
Judge: Good morning to you, Mr. Cullen.
Charles Cullen: Good morning.
Judge: ...during your first appearance [in the Common]wealth of Pennsylvania. Is that your understanding as well?
Charles Cullen: [unclear: "Yes, sir." / no reading]
Judge: The New Jersey counties and the Pennsylvania counties agreed to work with their respective governors' offices to permit you to be moved to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for purposes... Do you wish to plead guilty this morning?
Charles Cullen: Yes, Your Honor.
Judge: And are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?
Charles Cullen: Yes, Your Honor.
Judge: Mr. Mask, would you be kind enough to elicit a factual basis for the court?
Johnnie Mask: Yes, Your Honor. Your Honor, may I ask one question?
Judge: Yes, you certainly may.
Johnnie Mask: Yes. [unclear: "Mr." / no reading] This is going to take some time again, if, if... Did you inject Ms. Stoecker with any medication?
Charles Cullen: Yes.
Johnnie Mask: And was it your intent to cause her to expire?
Charles Cullen: Yes.
Johnnie Mask: And what agent did you use to accomplish that intent?
Charles Cullen: Digoxin.
Johnnie Mask: [unclear: "Yes." / "Okay."] You had access to that patient at Somerset Medical?
Charles Cullen: Yes.
Johnnie Mask: And you injected that patient?
Charles Cullen: Yes.
Johnnie Mask: Without authorization?
Charles Cullen: Yes.
Johnnie Mask: With the intent to cause death?
Charles Cullen: Yes.
Johnnie Mask: And, in fact, that patient died?
Charles Cullen: Yes.
Johnnie Mask: And the agent employed by you was?
Charles Cullen: Digoxin.
Judge: Accordingly, the court accepts the plea of Mr. Cullen, and we will schedule the matter for sentencing in a manner that allows for the terms and conditions of the plea agreement to be carried out.
Unidentified Voices: [unclear: "I gotop these forms"] [inaudible] Yes. Yes. Yes. [unclear: "Why don't you come..."] [clip ends] ---