The Uninteresting Case of Elizabeth Wettlaufer

What do you envision when you hear the words Serial killer? A knife wielding maniac on an evil killing spree? A handsome young man on a lust driven adventure into the abyss? A pedophile with an uncontrollable desire for the innocent souls of his victims? A heartless monster disguised as a woman taking advantage of lonely men? Do you think of dismembered limbs stuffed in containers and scattered throughout the forests? Do you think of multiple victims buried in the basement or out back in the shed? Do you think of cryptic messages left by the killer manifesting into long cat and mouse games?

Well I'm sorry to disappoint you and present to you the uninteresting case of Elizabeth Wettlaufer. A nurse accused of 8 counts of first degree murder (and possibly more) from "administrating medicine". All of her victims were at least 75 years old and died in their beds. Not very graphic or exciting and probably why it didn't make much international news but it's quite the story here locally. Notice I said accused, but she is undoubtedly guilty of her crimes and is awaiting trial. She has no clear signs of psychological problems or mental illness, so what caused her to commit these crimes?


A closer look at her life doesn't reveal much. She grew up in a religious household and even got a bachelor's in religious education counseling. Got married, got divorced, became a drug addict, became sober, turned lesbian, and turned un-lesbian when she found "God"

Her uninteresting life and somewhat troubled past

Nothing too spectacular, and nothing that would constitute serial killing.

Some uninteresting/interesting points from the article;

“I said to her, ‘People are saying you killed someone,” said the neighbour, who spoke on the condition she not be identified. “And she starts laughing her head off. She was hysterical. She thought the whole thing was funny.”

Martin entered the room and saw Granat struggling with a nurse he says he recognized as Wettlaufer after seeing photos of her arrest. Granat’s arms were flailing and he was making strange noises. Martin held his hand and Granat calmed down.

To Granat’s friends, the nurse appeared gruff. “She just said, ‘Get out of my way. Get out of my way,’” Jackson said.

She left the room and returned moments later with a needle. She shoved Jackson aside and said, “This will soothe him now.”

About 20 minutes later, Granat gasped his final breath.

Early in 2008, through a chat room on the website Gay Canada, Wettlaufer connected with Sheila Andrews. That summer she flew to Prince Albert, Sask., to spend a week with Andrews at her home.

“When she got off the plane she almost body-slammed me,” said Andrews, 49. “She’s like, “I’ve been telling everybody how much in love I am with you and we were going to get together and everything.’ And I’m just, like, ‘Whoa, slow down, sweetheart. We’re just meeting.’ That’s what kind of scared me off.”

Also in 2011, under the pseudonym Betty Weston, Wettlaufer published an online poem about a woman trying to “quench her craze” by stabbing someone to death. In the comments section below the poem she wrote that making the killer a woman “made me feel powerful.”

As you can see the (for lack of a better word) "excitement" scale is still something like 3/10.

I ended up finding her profile on a poetry website.

Her poems

She is not bad of a poet and has written many poems. Most are very cryptic talking about life and death, nothing out of the ordinary, but this one stuck out to me.

Working happy

Maybe it's the rye
or the time of night
but my day was not so bad. 
Filled with work and satisfaction
and old people.
See I work with old people
and I love their candidacy,
their points,
their wrinkles, their frailties
their refusing to eat anything but icecream,
even their smell.
I love the finality, the resignation
the knowing this is their last home.
Yes, sometimes I feel angry
but mostly at the staff
the people expected to meet the aging needs.
I want to see everyone happy,
everyone content
and when others who are paid to do so don't,
well I boil over.
Come on, these people are paying to be here
to end their days in a beige diapered wasteland.
Tonight though there is not even a simmer.
Everyone is in bed.
Everyone is content.
Every tooth soaking, every diaper done up
every pad in place.
So I am content.
My happiness slides into place
like the catheter I put in tonight
and my soul vents itself
like the healthy urine collecting in the bag

Eerie coincidence? Or psychopathic thoughts? What can drive somebody like Elizabeth to commit these murders? Did she have a personal vendetta against the elderly? Was she a troubled soul destined to become a serial killer? Did she accidentally kill the first time and it became some sick addiction? Did she feel no remorse because her victims were essentially already on their death beds? Was she trying to fulfill some prophecy in her mind?

Hmm.. how uninteresting..

Sounds to me like she thought it her job to play god. Her ego reveals itself in her poem and seems to project that she was chosen to create her victims final resting places.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

really not trying to be a dick but it is pretty uninteresting as far as serial killers go.

most female serials are black widows or angels of death. in reading your post apparently she is an angel of death...

and often times we will never know what goes through a serials head

Here in Denmark we just had a retired doctor admit to killing 10+(his own words) people at his job, he said it was supported suicide, the victims wanted to die and he just helped them.

Maybe she was thinking she helped them at a start but then insanity took over.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Oh I don't disagree with you. She'll probably go down as the most uninteresting, most harmless and non dangerous serial killer of all time. It's going to be hard to be a more uninteresting serial killer.

originally posted by: knowledgehunter0986
a reply to: TinySickTears

Oh I don't disagree with you. She'll probably go down as the most uninteresting, most harmless and non dangerous serial killer of all time. It's going to be hard to be a more uninteresting serial killer.

edit

just saying that some serials are pretty uninteresting

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Hi knowledgehunter0986,
I personally know the family of one of her victims.

The nursing home that they were murdered in has closed it's door to admissions for now. Apparently there is quite an overhaul needed due to "slipshod reporting practices and details of neglect and abuse".
www.lfpress.com...

This woman definitely has psychological issues that need addressing, but she's hurt a lot of people with her actions. I think I would call her "frightening" before "uninteresting", because she managed to move around a lot, murdering elderly people in different locations before she was finally caught.

S&F for making a thread. I couldn't bring myself to write one.
jacy

Obviously, anyone who murders someone just to murder someone, has some sort of pathology. From the short bio, it seems that from an early age she was seeking answers, fulfillment. Apparently she hadn't found it in organized religion, eduction, nor love. I think that it is quite possible that her first kill may have been out mercy or perceived mercy: an elderly patient suffering away. (This actually occurs more often than the medical community will admit. Quite often the family are glad the suffering is over and no one asks questions.) The power she felt from that act probably temporarily filled some sort of spiritual need she had. Thus the cycle began.

At the risk of being overly preachy, it seems this is a case study of the alienation felt by so many in today's society. With the lack, really complete void, of a coherent and homogenous spiritual basis, many flounder. Although I am of the belief that this lack will lead to a fuller, more robust spirituality for many than if they'd had the drum beat of proselytizing that was the characteristic of many earlier generations. I am of the parallel belief that most will never seek that deeper spirituality in today's society because of the stress on materialism and materialistic thinking.

a reply to: jacygirl

Hi Jacygirl.

If there is any consolation for the victims families, it's that she'll probably spend the rest of her life isolated behind bars.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

KINDNESS to souls in great pain.
Perhaps?

a reply to: SmilingROB

A lot of the victims were in relatively good health and almost all of the families were shocked by the "deaths"

Historically, serial killers have came in both genders, all shapes, sizes and colors. Often, they have been the least suspected amongst us. There isn't any such thing as a real criteria for serial killers.
It's only through "Hollywoodisation" that images of the deranged, ax wielding serial killer forms in our minds. Most people don't understand the concept of a psychopath. You say psychopath to the average person, and the first thing that emerges in their mind is the obviously deranged, ax wielding maniac. More often than not, that image couldn't be any further from reality.

In a perverse way the uninteresting aspect of this serves as a point of interest. As has already been said there are multiple facets in the make up of serial killers and this one, in her own dull way is no less fascinating than any of the others

I would hazard a guess that she was not a popular child and teenager. I have heard it said that when something that should happen in a childs life doesn't, or something that shouldn't happen does, is often the point were personality traits take route. It could be that she was the victim of horrific abuse, but it is just as likely to be some minor issue that went unchecked, and made deep and dark roots.

We will probably never know for sure and that also adds to the uninteresting fascination.

originally posted by: [post=21952636]

I would hazard a guess that she was not a popular child and teenager. I have heard it said that when something that should happen in a childs life doesn't, or something that shouldn't happen does, is often the point were personality traits take route. It could be that she was the victim of horrific abuse, but it is just as likely to be some minor issue that went unchecked, and made deep and dark roots.

We will probably never know for sure and that also adds to the uninteresting fascination.

Yep. Many times these people spend their lifetime trying to figure out why they're the the way they are too. Good case in point, Ted Bundy. He died still wondering what compelled him to do what he did.