Charles Cullen 153648
New Jersey State Prison
P.O. Box 861
Trenton, New Jersey 08625

Charles Cullen (born February 22, 1960) is a former nurse and the most prolific serial killer in New Jersey history. Cullen told authorities in December 2003 that he had murdered as many as 45 patients during the 16 years he worked at 10 hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.Cullen said he administered overdoses to patients to spare them from being “coded” — going into cardiac or respiratory arrest and being listed as a “Code Blue” emergency. Cullen has told detectives that he could not bear to witness or hear about attempts at saving a victim’s life. Cullen also claims that he gave patients overdoses so that he could end their “suffering” and prevent hospital personnel from “de-humanizing” them.
Investigators say that he is often confused and not very alert. For example, Cullen seems to understand that his actions have caused patients’ families deep distress and may have caused patients themselves to suffer, but he appears not to realize that this contradicts his claims of wanting to save patients from further pain and suffering.
Similarly, Cullen has told investigators that although he often thought about murdering his victims over several days as he witnessed their “suffering,” the decision to commit murder was performed on impulse.