Baby Killer: Nurse Guilty for Deaths of Seven Newborn Babies

In the neonatal ward of a hospital in northwest England where she worked, a British nurse who referred to herself as a ‘terrible evil monster’ killed seven newborn babies and attempted to kill another six.

She was found guilty of both crimes on Friday. Between 2015 and 2016, Lucy Letby, who was 33 years old at the time, was found guilty of causing the deaths of five baby boys and two baby girls, as well as causing harm to other infants.

These incidents often occurred during her night shifts at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Local media reported that Letby was declared the most prolific serial child killer in modern British history after enduring a grueling 10-month trial at Manchester Crown Court. Although the jury deliberated for 110 hours, they could not reach an agreement on six additional alleged attacks, leading to her acquittal on two attempted murder charges.

The family of Letby’s victims released a statement in which they expressed being ‘heartbroken, devastated, outraged, and feeling numb; we may never truly know why this happened.’ The prosecution provided the jury with information that indicated Letby’s infant victims were subjected to various methods of harm. These included instances where some infants were poisoned through insulin injections, while others were either forcefully fed milk or administered air injections.

In some cases, these innocent infants had to endure multiple assaults before eventually succumbing to the harm inflicted upon them. After she was detained, authorities searched her home and discovered a handwritten note that read, ‘I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them.’ She wrote, ‘I am a terrible, evil person. I AM EVIL, I DID THIS.’ Some of the victims she assaulted were twins; in one case, she killed both siblings and in two other cases, she succeeded in killing one but failed to kill the other.

The youngest victim was only one day old. Letby is scheduled to receive a significant prison term, possibly even a rare whole-life sentence, on Monday. The occurrence of unexplained fatalities and collapses in the neonatal ward, where premature or ill babies are treated, over 18 months starting in January 2015, raised concerns among senior doctors, eventually leading to the discovery of her misconduct.

Police were called when doctors failed to identify a medical cause. Following an extensive investigation, Letby, who had been involved in the care of the babies, was identified as the one who was ‘consistently malicious when things took a turn for the worse,’ according to prosecutor Nick Johnson.

Letby appeared in photos on social media as a cheerful, outgoing woman with an active social life; in one image, she was seen holding a child. However, her trial heard months of often disturbing testimony that depicted her as a determined murderer. The jury was informed of Letby’s four failed attempts to murder one infant girl before she eventually succeeded.

As one of the mothers of the victims entered the room and witnessed her harming her twin infants, Letby reassured her with the words ‘Trust me, I’m a nurse.’ Detectives discovered documents and medical records related to the case’s children at her home after her arrest. She had also looked up the parents and families of the murdered newborns on social media.

Letby sobbed during her 14-day testimony, claiming that she never intended to harm the infants and had only ever wanted to care for them. She also blamed the ward’s unsanitary conditions and inadequate staffing levels. She further asserted that the ‘I am evil’ letter was something she had written out of overwhelm and that four doctors had planned to blame her for the unit’s shortcomings.

However, the prosecution argued that she was a cold, deceitful, and shrewd liar who frequently changed her version of events, and her notes should be regarded as a confession. Detectives claimed that they had not uncovered anything significant about Letby’s life and were unable to identify a motive. Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who oversaw the inquiry, stated, “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever know until she chooses to tell us.”