Elizabeth Wettlaufer Explains Her Killings to Police, 2016

The confession that made the case: a former nurse tells a detective about a "voice" and a "laughter in my chest" after she injected patients with insulin.

Subject

Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer

Interviewer

Woodstock police detective (not named)

Recorded

probably October 5, 2016

Runtime

2:25

Content warning: A nurse describes killing elderly patients.

The Interview

In October 2016, Elizabeth Wettlaufer sat in a police interview room in Ontario and described, on camera, how she had injected patients in her care with insulin. This two-and-a-half-minute edit by The Globe and Mail comes from a recording that ran more than two and a half hours. In it she tells a detective that she had only ever had parking tickets, then describes a "voice" that she believed was either the devil or God, and the "laughter in my chest" she heard afterwards.

Historical Context

Wettlaufer worked as a registered nurse in long-term care homes in southwestern Ontario. Between 2007 and 2016 she injected residents with overdoses of insulin, killing eight patients, seven at Caressant Care in Woodstock and one at Meadow Park in London. Investigators had no case against her. In September 2016 she checked herself into the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and told staff what she had done. They notified police.

Circumstances of the Interview

Police in Toronto interviewed her on September 29, 2016. The video-recorded statement in this clip was made afterwards, probably on October 5, 2016. Reports differ on whether the detective belonged to the Woodstock Police Service or the Ontario Provincial Police, which worked the case together. She was arrested on October 24, 2016. On June 1, 2017, she pleaded guilty in Woodstock to eight counts of first-degree murder, four of attempted murder and two of aggravated assault, and the recording was played in court that day.

What the Interview Covers

In this edit Wettlaufer explains why she believed she acted: a voice that was "not a voice in my head" but "in my ear", and a sense that God wanted certain patients "back". Asked whether she thought she was doing the right thing for the patients, she says no, and that she now knows "it wasn't God." She describes feeling relief at having confessed, blames her mental health, and says she hopes someone can study her so that it does not happen again.

What Makes the Recording Significant

Police had no case against Wettlaufer until she confessed. Her own words were the evidence that brought the charges. The case led Ontario to hold a public inquiry into the safety of residents in long-term care homes, which reported in 2019.

Archival Importance

This is the best-known recording of the case and the clearest record of how Wettlaufer herself explained her crimes. It became public as an exhibit in open court.

Important Caveats

Her account of a voice, of God and of the devil is her own explanation. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced on June 26, 2017, to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. The clip is a short edit, not the full statement. The interviewing detective is not identified here.

Wettlaufer: This is pretty, excuse me, major. I've only ever had parking tickets. I've never been arrested for anything.

Detective: Well, like I said, you're not under arrest right now.

Wettlaufer: Oh, I know.

Detective: But it is a very significant investigation, correct?

Wettlaufer: I understand.

Wettlaufer: The different times that I have caused people's deaths or caused them discomfort through the, um, through the influence. I believe it was the influence of that voice, or whatever it was. It wasn't a voice in my head, it was a voice in my ear. And when I would do it, afterwards I would hear like a laughter in my chest. Because part of me had started to believe that it was the devil, and part of me thought it might be God, [unclear: "for the purpose of my life" / "that was the purpose of my life"].

Detective: So was this your first attempt at overdosing these people on insulin?

Wettlaufer: Yes. [Unclear: a name, or "because all I was"; captions "CLA was CLA".] And I didn't really want her to die. I just, I don't know, I was just angry, and, um, had this sense inside me that she might be a person that God wanted back with him.

Detective: Did you feel like you were doing the right thing for these people?

Wettlaufer: No. No. I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to do, but it wasn't what was right for them. I honestly believed at the time that God wanted me to do it. But I know now that's not true. And, uh, if I could take it back, if I could get help sooner, I would have. And I'm sorry.

Detective: Do you feel like there's a burden [taken off] your shoulders?

Wettlaufer: Yes. I've done the right thing.

Detective: Do you feel there's a sense of relief?

Wettlaufer: Yes. And now I know that it wasn't God. And I'm ashamed of myself that that happened, but I also think that it was mental health. You know, I think it was, I wasn't in my right mind, or I would have been able to tell. I mean, who... I was raised to believe in God. I was raised from a baby to go to Sunday school. So how could I have such a strong feeling that this is what God wanted, unless it was something wrong in my head? There's got to be something that can come from this. Maybe somebody can study me and come up with answers and new medications so that this doesn't happen again. That's [unclear: "mental health" / "mental surgery now"]. ---