PA Nurse Pleads Guilty To Killing Patients With Insulin Overdoses

BUTLER COUNTY, PA — Former Pennsylvania nurse Heather Pressdee pleaded guilty Thursday to killing two patients and trying to kill several more by intentionally giving them too much insulin, according to a report.

Pressdee was charged last year with three counts of first-degree murder as well as several counts of attempted murder and neglect of a care-dependent person.

She was accused of administering the lethal doses of insulin to numerous patients at various care facilities in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Armstrong and Butler counties between 2020 and 2023.

The victims ranged in age from 43 to 104. Pressdee typically administered the insulin during overnight shifts when staffing was low.

At a plea hearing Thursday, Pressdee was also sentenced to life in prison with no possibility for parole, WPXI reported.

Pressdee was arrested in May 2o23 on on charges involving three patients. State prosecutors announced charges in connection with 19 other victims in November.

When she was initially charged, a TribLive.com report said Pressdee told police she hated to see her patients in pain and wanted to end their misery. But after charges were filed in November, court documents showed Pressdee had a "lust for death."

On Christmas Day in 2022, she texted her mother, according to a criminal complaint obtained by TribLive: "I can’t with this lady tonight. She’s going to get pillow therapy."

At a hearing in February, Pressdee told her attorneys she wished to plead guilty and argued with her attorneys at the counsel table, TribLive.com reported.

'I want to sign and be done,” she told them. “You guys aren’t helping me. I keep trying to talk to you, and you’re not helping me."