Episode 40

When asked to imagine the perfect place to perform serial murder most imagine something dark and creepy, but the truth of the matter is that the perfect place to kill is actually the same place in which most of us are born and die: a hospital. This is a place where death is not only common, but expected. Many of the victims are already incapacited and there’s a steady stream of them coming in each day. Not to mention the fact that the tools for killing are readily available in the form of various dangerous drugs. Combine that with a hospital’s reluctance to report any activity which may cost them a lawsuit and it’s no wonder that Charles Cullen was able to get away with killing more than 40 patients over the course of 16 years at nine different institutions. In this episode we speak with Charles Graeber, author of The Good Nurse, and recount the terrifying story of a serial killer nurse and the broken system around him which facilitated and possibly covered up his killing spree.