The angel of death serial killer nurse is depicted in the new Netflix movie, The Good Nurse which was released on Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
The Good Nurse was released in selected cinemas on October 19, 2022, and has already garnered a fair amount of attention from critics and audience members alike.
The movie follows the real-life story of American serial killer Charles Cullen during his nursing career, with Eddie Redmayne playing the lead role of Cullen.
Despite the dark undertones of this crime drama, it is constantly praised for its high production value and mature storytelling. While some will likely be shocked by Cullen’s crimes, many are immediately engaged by the way that The Good Nurse was made – to tell a complex story without sacrificing emotional connection or accuracy.
Ultimately, viewers’ reactions have mainly been positive about this film, which indicates that audiences will be paying close attention to its subsequent global release.
Charles Cullen has sparked shock and horror with his admission to killing 29 people over a span of 15 years. He had a history of mental illness yet managed to work in nine hospitals and one nursing home in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
This marks one of the most astonishing serial killings of modern times as it is speculated that if he were just apprehended earlier, the number of victims would have been significantly lesser.
Unfortunately, the details behind this tragedy will never fully be known due to Cullen’s reluctance to give specifics on the cases since admitting his guilt back in 2003.
The criminal history of Charles
Charles Cullen reportedly had a difficult childhood, enduring bullying by his peers at school and even attempting suicide when he was young. His mother, Florence Cullen, passed away in a car accident in 1977 when Charles was 17 years old.
Despite these tough early life experiences, he decided to join the US Navy and move on from high school. Unfortunately, reports suggest that Charles continued facing bullying from other officers and experienced several episodes of suicidal behavior before eventually receiving a medical discharge.
He subsequently began studying nursing at Mountainside Hospital’s nursing school and went on to work at the Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. In 1987, Charles married Adrienne Taub with whom he had two daughters.
Charles Cullen was a nurse at the Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and he allegedly began murdering his patients here in June 1988. He had gone through patient records to choose his victims and gave them an overdose of intravenous medication as his chosen method.
Cullen then moved on to work at Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg and continued killing people, often giving digoxin overdoses to elderly individuals with heart conditions. The Sun states that this criminal period of Charles Cullen’s life lasted for sixteen long years until 2003.
While working in the ICU at Hunterdon Medical Center, Charles Cullen was accused of administering fatal overdoses of digoxin to numerous patients.
This occurred sometime during the mid to late 90s, a period during which Cullen also sought out treatment for his depression and kept quitting his jobs at various hospitals.
While no conclusive evidence has been found to prove Cullen’s involvement in any fatalities, it is worth noting that he had access and motivation to do so, with some speculating that one of Cullen’s motivations was alleviating the suffering he believed these individuals were experiencing.
The arrest of Charles Cullen
The investigation into Cullen’s past revealed a pattern of suspicious circumstances throughout several medical centers, prompting speculation that Cullen had been preying on vulnerable patients throughout his career.
Until this point, the suspicions had all been circumstantial and no one could link Cullen to the deaths. However, authorities at the hospital became convinced that Cullen was responsible for 13 patient deaths when they uncovered records showing he had been accessing information associated with patients he was not assigned to care for.
This ultimately led to his termination and a multi-agency investigation into his alleged crimes. Amy Loughren’s role in Charles Cullen’s eventual arrest was paramount, as she provided the police with information regarding his access to drugs and connection to multiple patient deaths.
Her evidence raised serious suspicions among authorities, prompting them to ask her to wear a wire and make contact with Cullen in order to record a confession that would later lead to his arrest.
Following his arrest in December 2003, he confessed to killing 40 people within a 16-year period, though the actual figure is thought to be much higher.
Charles Cullen sparked fear and revulsion in the local community; the New Jersey and Pennsylvania-based nurse may have lucked out with his sentence of 17 life terms, but his story has spread further than his deeds.
By entering into a plea agreement with authorities, Cullen was able to escape the death penalty while also working to answer an important question: who were all of his victims? This cooperation was essential to investigative efforts and Cullen’s frankness helped bring close some difficult conversations for many families.
On one hand, this plea agreement showed that Cullen had accepted responsibility for his actions; on the other, it warned other potential criminals who are deciding between arrogance and compliance in face of capture and prosecution.
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