Who is the former Woodstock, Ont., nurse charged in nursing-home deaths? - Action News
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Who is the former Woodstock, Ont., nurse charged in nursing-home deaths?

The woman accused of first-degree murder in the deaths of eight nursing-home patients is under investigation by the College of Nurses of Ontario and is no longer entitled to practise.

Elizabeth Tracy Mae Wettlaufer, 49, facing 8 charges of 1st-degree murder

Elizabeth Wettlaufer, charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in nursing-home deaths in southwestern Ontario, is also under investigation by the College of Nurses of Ontario. (Facebook)

The woman accused of first-degree murder in the deaths of eight nursing-home residents is also under investigation by the College of Nurses of Ontario and is no longer entitled to practise.

Elizabeth Tracy Mae Wettlaufer, 49, has been charged in connection with the deaths that occurred between August 2007 and August 2014 in southwestern Ontario nursing homes, policesaid Tuesday morning. The victims were between 75 and 96 years of age.

The college said on Tuesday afternoonit is also investigatingWettlauferand that she is "not entitled to practise."

"The college is also co-operating with the police investigation," the organization said in a statement.

Resigned last month

Wettlaufer's registration status is listed as "resigned" in her profileon the college's website. She first registered with the college the governing body for nurses, practical nurses and nurse practitioners on June 8, 1995, according to her profile, and resigned on Sept. 30, 2016.

The profile gives"Parker" as her previous last name.

Elizabeth Tracy Mae Wettlaufer: 'She was such a nice person'

8 years ago
Duration 2:39
Woodstock, Ont., woman has been charged with killing eight elderly people at the nursing homes where she worked as a registered nurse

Wettlaufer's profile also includes information about the charges against her, as well as the fact that she remains in police custody.

One of her most recent jobs appears to have been at Lifeguard Homecare and Nursing.A representative for the Brantford, Ont.-based companyconfirmed she had been employed part-time for just over a year.

The representative would not comment further, except to say that Wettlaufer has not worked for the company since the summer. Wettlaufer's Facebook profile still says she works at Lifeguard Homecare.

Neighbour Derek Gilbert, who lives in the same apartment building as Wettlaufer, called the news "shocking."

"We would chat and have laughs," Gilbert told CBC News on Tuesday. "She seemed like an everyday, normal kind of person."

Wettlaufer stands accused of killing eight nursing home residents by administering a drug to them. (Citynews Toronto/Canadian Press)

The deaths occurred whileWettlaufer was employed by Caressant Care Nursing and Retirement Homes, which operates six facilities in southwestern Ontario. Seven victims died at the company's Woodstock location, police say. The other died at the Meadow Park Facility in London.

Her Facebook page, listed under the name BetheWettlaufer,also says she studied nursing at Conestoga College, as well as religious education and counselling at London Baptist Bible College.

Wettlaufer'sFacebookprofile shows pictures of her travelling, and numerous photos of her with her father, other family and her cats.

There are also several entries in which she writes about working as a nurse.

One post from Feb. 22, 2016, says "23 patients with a gastric bug combined with a full moon made for a crazy night last night. And that is an understatement."

Wettlaufer's Facebook profile shows her travelling and spending time with her pets and family. (Bethe Wettlaufer/Facebook)

Poem about death

She also appears to have written about her work onlinein a blog of poems attributed to her.

While the poemWorking Happy, below,focuses on the author's care for the elderly, many others centre on unrequited love and desire.

Maybe it's the rye or the time of night but my day was not so bad.

Filled with work and satisfaction and old people.

See I work with old people and I love their candidacy,

their points, their wrinkles, their frailties their refusing to eat anything but ice cream, even their smell.

The poemInevitablewritten about five years ago, however, rhapsodizes about what it might feel like to kill someone.

She watches some life drain from the notch in his neck vein.

As it soothingly pools it smothers her pain.

Sweet stiletto so sharp craves another cut.

Obeying a call she moves to his gut.

Blade traces a linefrom navel to spine

grating on rib bones slicing intestine.