'I did it with hugs': Woman tells how she got 'Angel of Death' serial killer nurse friend to confess to killing 40 innocent patients 'just for kicks'
n a new book, the hero who put the
lynchpin in the case against the infamous ‘Angel of Death’ nurse who may
have killed hundreds tells for the first time how she was able to get
his confession and put him behind bars.
Though police believe he may have killed up to 400, Charles Cullen was handed 17 life sentences in 2006 after admitting he poisoned and killed 40 patients during his career as the ‘Angel of Death’ nurse.
The investigation was helped along by Cullen’s friend and co-worker, Amy Loughren, who wore a wire and worked as a police informant for months to get him behind bars.
But even then, the case was far from over.
Cullen wouldn’t give as much as yes or no answers to investigators who’d become increasingly frustrated and were nearly forced to let him go. They turned to Loughren for help.
Loughren had worked with Cullen and befriended him at his most recent, and final, hospital in Somerville, New Jersey.
The book, called ‘The Good Nurse’ by Charles Graeber, describes Loughren as a self-proclaimed ‘perceptive person — a spiritual traveler, a listener with well-tuned antennae for the frequency of vibes.’
However, she was never able to pick up any evil in her friend Cullen, which made her all the more determined to end the prolonged madness.
Loughren said she was aghast at the killer’s deeds, but that she ‘still cared for his soul.’
‘When I got there,’ she told the New York Post, ‘I said, “I need to get this confession.’”
Loughren implored Cullen to confess and spare his two daughters, ex-wife, and Loughren herself from a trial that could have been drawn out for years.
‘I told him that he had the opportunity to be the hero that day,’ she said.
And it worked. ‘I’ll talk,’ he told her ‘but I want the death penalty.’
The man who may have been the most prolific serial killer in American history admitted he was the Angel of Death because his friend asked him to.
Loughren stayed with her friend over the entire seven-hour police interrogation, bringing him food and giving him hugs.
She also asked him how he’d done it. He told her he’d poisoned at least one of his patients with the heart drug digoxin.
Police believe he did it for the thrill and that, though some of his victims were at the brink of death, many of them would have pulled through were it not for Cullen.
Meanwhile, Loughren believes Cullen never would have admitted to the killings if not for her help and her kind treatment of the disturbed man.
‘I believe the reason he confessed is because I cared about him,’ she said.
After the confession, Loughren didn’t see her old friend again until recently, when she visited him in prison.
‘I needed to have that catharsis,’ she said.
She has no plans to see him again, but Loughren said her years being plagued with nightmares have now ended.
Though police believe he may have killed up to 400, Charles Cullen was handed 17 life sentences in 2006 after admitting he poisoned and killed 40 patients during his career as the ‘Angel of Death’ nurse.
The investigation was helped along by Cullen’s friend and co-worker, Amy Loughren, who wore a wire and worked as a police informant for months to get him behind bars.
Friend: Amy Loughner got the confession that put
her friend the 'Angel of Death' behind bars, but says she still 'cared
for his soul'
Prolific: Charles Cullen admitted in to
poisoning 40 patients as a nurse in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but
police believe he may have killed up to 400
Cullen wouldn’t give as much as yes or no answers to investigators who’d become increasingly frustrated and were nearly forced to let him go. They turned to Loughren for help.
Loughren had worked with Cullen and befriended him at his most recent, and final, hospital in Somerville, New Jersey.
The book, called ‘The Good Nurse’ by Charles Graeber, describes Loughren as a self-proclaimed ‘perceptive person — a spiritual traveler, a listener with well-tuned antennae for the frequency of vibes.’
However, she was never able to pick up any evil in her friend Cullen, which made her all the more determined to end the prolonged madness.
Loughren said she was aghast at the killer’s deeds, but that she ‘still cared for his soul.’
‘When I got there,’ she told the New York Post, ‘I said, “I need to get this confession.’”
Loughren implored Cullen to confess and spare his two daughters, ex-wife, and Loughren herself from a trial that could have been drawn out for years.
‘I told him that he had the opportunity to be the hero that day,’ she said.
And it worked. ‘I’ll talk,’ he told her ‘but I want the death penalty.’
The man who may have been the most prolific serial killer in American history admitted he was the Angel of Death because his friend asked him to.
Loughren stayed with her friend over the entire seven-hour police interrogation, bringing him food and giving him hugs.
Sick: Cullen, here with his public defender, was handed 17 life sentences in 2006 thanks to his co-worker Amy Loughren
Police believe he did it for the thrill and that, though some of his victims were at the brink of death, many of them would have pulled through were it not for Cullen.
Meanwhile, Loughren believes Cullen never would have admitted to the killings if not for her help and her kind treatment of the disturbed man.
‘I believe the reason he confessed is because I cared about him,’ she said.
After the confession, Loughren didn’t see her old friend again until recently, when she visited him in prison.
‘I needed to have that catharsis,’ she said.
She has no plans to see him again, but Loughren said her years being plagued with nightmares have now ended.