Family and friends of the alleged victims of former nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer expressed their pain and anger at seeing the suspect appear in a Woodstock, Ont. courthouse on Friday morning.
The former Ontario nurse faces eight counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of eight elderly nursing home patients in her care in Woodstock, Ont. and London, Ont. over the past decade. Wettlaufer also faces six new charges: four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault. None of the allegations against her have been proven in court.
A close family friend of Maurice (Moe) Granat, an 84-year-old man Wettlaufer is accused of murdering, told reporters outside the courthouse how she felt seeing Wettlaufer in person.
“As far as we’re concerned she’s a monster,” Laura Jackson said.
Jackson told the media that she was there along with the other alleged victims’ families and friends to ensure that they were not forgotten and that their lives mattered.
She also recounted seeing Wettlaufer at the Caressant Care Nursing Home with Granat on the night he died, Dec. 23, 2007.
Jackson said she and several others arrived that night to find Granat “physically fighting” Wettlaufer off in his room. Jackson said the former nurse abruptly left when she saw them but returned again to inject him with something. Granat died around 30 to 45 minutes after that encounter, according to Jackson. She said she distinctly remembered her first impression of Wettlaufer that night because the nurse had been “rude” to her.
“She literally, physically pushed me out of the way to give him an injection,” Jackson said. “She really stuck in my mind.”
Andrea Silcox, the daughter of 84-year-old alleged victim James Silcox, stood with Jackson during the press conference and shared her own perception of Wettlaufer in the courthouse on Friday.
“Now, she stands before us and we want her to see how hurt and how much pain we have for our loved ones,” Silcox said.
The son of another alleged victim, 75-year-old Arpad Horvath, told CTV News outside the court that he didn’t take his eyes off of Wettlaufer during the proceedings. He said he was seeing red because of the anger he felt towards her.
“I was very angry, very upset and I did everything I could to restrain myself,” Arpad Horvath Jr. said.
He called Friday the “toughest day” he’s ever had in his life. He said he didn’t witness any emotion or “conscience” from the accused former nurse while she sat in court.
“I don’t think she has a heart,” Horvath Jr. said.
He also vowed to continue closely following Wettlaufer’s case.
“I was in the nursing home every day with my father. I was in the hospital every day with my father and I will be here in court every day with my father as well because I know he’s here watching,” Horvath Jr. said.
Horvath Jr.’s sister, Susan Horvath, was also at Wettlaufer’s court appearance on Friday morning. She told reporters at a scrum following the appearance what she thought about the accused nurse.
“I think she’s sick,” Susan said. “She needs help.”
The tearful daughter expressed concern that there could be more victims who may never be discovered.
“Who knows how many are left,” Susan said. “We’re never going to find them. These are people that are lost in all of this that won’t be named.”
Susan also called for changes to how nursing home employees are screened before they’re hired and more oversight in the industry. Her lawyer, Sandra Zisckind from personal injury law firm Diamond & Diamond, stood beside her and announced a civil lawsuit against the concerned nursing homes in the case was pending, but that a statement of claim had yet to be filed.
During the court appearance, Susan said all she could think of was her father.
“I’m just picturing my father as her patient and what he went through,” she shared. “How he couldn’t say help. How nobody cared. How he lied in that bed and had to die with nobody there.”
