Random Serial Killer Nurses Who Murdered Their Patients (17 items)

(#5) Daniela Poggiali Ended Her Patients, And Then Took Selfies With Them

Italian nurse Daniela Poggiali allegedly killed at least 90 of her patients on purpose because they were bothersome. While she vehemently denied the charges, the Italian government thought otherwise and charged her in 2014 with the crimes.

Not only was Poggiali present for 96 deaths during her time as a nurse - a very high number, according to authorities - she also took selfies with her deceased patients.

Police said she stole money and jewelry from the victims and bragged to others that she killed them because they "annoyed" her.
(#2) Amelia Dyer
- Dec. at 59 (1837-1896)
Amelia Dyer is one of the most notorious serial killers in history. Although she was only convicted of 12 deaths, evidence suggests her true body count was at least 400. Her crimes took place over a 20-year time span in the late 1800s, and all of her victims were babies.
Dyer was a trained nurse who turned to baby farming to make money. She would offer to adopt or nurse a child in return for a fee but would typically terminate the babies within days by drugging them with opium-based substances or smothering them. She actually served six months in prison for negligence in 1879.
But Dyer wasn't arrested for her crimes until 1896. Her reign of terror finally ended permanently on June 10, 1896, when she was executed by hanging for the murder of 12 infants.
(#7) Charles Cullen
- 41
Charles Cullen spent 16 years as a serial killing nurse before he was finally caught in 2003. He admitted to ending the lives of up to 40 patients with lethal injections during that time, although it's believed that this may be a conservative estimate.
Although Cullen is the only one to blame for his actions, there were many medical professionals along the way who could have stopped him from harming patients. In fact, after Cullen was caught, most of the seven hospitals he worked for reported that they had suspected he was hurting the people in his care.
It's unclear why none of these hospitals contacted the police or, at the very least, made their concerns known to his subsequent employers when they verified his work references. Cullen's long tenure in the medical field enabled him to become the most prolific serial killer in New Jersey history. He was given a prison term of 127 years.
(#11) Richard Angelo
- 61
In 1989, Richard Angelo was given a minimum of 50 years in prison after he was convicted of killing four patients and harming four others. Further investigations determined that he had actually poisoned at least 35 people during his seven months working at a hospital on Long Island.

Angelo was finally caught after suspicions were aroused when an unprescribed medication was found in one patient's urine. The motive behind Angelo's medical attacks was to induce respiratory or cardiac arrest so he could step in and save the patients in front of his colleagues at the last minute.
(#10) Orville Lynn Majors
- 62
In 1999, Orville Lynn Majors was given the unusual sentence of 360 years in prison for his three-year criminal spree that took the lives of up to 130 patients. He worked in a hospital in Clinton, IN, from 1993 to 1995, and the small-town hospital's fatality rate shot up by a staggering amount after Majors was hired.
It was estimated that 33% of all patients admitted to the hospital passed during this time period, and the odds of expiring when Majors was on the clock were much higher than usual.
Although the prosecutors were never able to put together a concrete motive, it was reported in the Journal of Forensic Sciences that Majors selected his victims based partially on which patients were whiny and the most demanding. Andy Harris, who was once Majors's roommate, testified that Majors believed the elderly "should all be gassed."
(#17) Gwendolyn Graham

Cathy Wood and Gwendolyn Graham were co-workers engaged in a romantic relationship that turned deadly. Dubbed the "Lethal Lovers" by the media, Graham and Wood killed at least five patients together in a Michigan nursing home during a two-month period in 1987.
The first murder, which was not initially deemed a suspicious death, involved an elderly Alzheimer's patient, whom Graham suffocated. The pair apparently believed having a murder pact would keep them together.
Wood later admitted to the killings, and she alleged Graham was the person who physically committed each crime. Graham ended up reneging on their pact after just a few months and began dating someone else. In 1989, the former lovers were arrested and convicted in five patient passings.