The Angel of Mercy or of Death?

A true story that non-psychopaths wish it didn't happen.

Donald Harvey (April 15, 1952 – March 30, 2017) was an American serial killer who claimed to have murdered 87 people, though official estimates are between 137 and 147 victims. He could do this during his time as a hospital nurse. His spree took place between 1970 and 1987. Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.

This is his story...

He loved to smother his patients until their last second of life. Then, he would let go and repeat this cruel action. He did this repeatedly until he got bored, and the man’s horrified eyes bulged. Only then, did he finally kill him.

He took out his notebook from his nurse’s uniform pocket to check who was next. Room 12.

A lady in her 60s with a heart problem and high blood pressure was lying in her room, sleeping. He tried not to wake her before he gave her an injection, but she got startled and came to, regardless. She felt, somehow, that this nurse was up to no good and reached for the nurse’s calling intercom. Before she could reach it, he smacked her across the face and smothered her in seconds. He ensured he manipulated the alarm systems to go off to call blue, equal to “Patient Critical”.

He quietly slipped out of the room without anyone seeing him. But he had the presence of mind to erase his name as the nurse in charge. He left that part of the blackboard blank.

He already knew who was next ...

Let’s go back in time for a moment.

Being picked on and bullied at school was very difficult. It got so bad that he begged his mother not to force him to go. Eventually, his mom, seeing the child’s mental deterioration, had him school-taught by homeschooling.

The situation didn’t improve at home. His uncle and a neighbour had sexually assaulted him. No one knows when he became gay. Or if that led to the beatings from other kids and adults, one after another.

By the time he was 18, he had his first job at a hospital

A poor decision by that institution. They allowed him to become a monster.

One day, not long after he started on the job, he was in charge of guarding a sick patient. Another bad idea from the hospital.

Since his victim had already been intubated, he could not speak...and the torture began.

At first, he closed the blinds. Then, he started injecting his victim with experimental drugs. He wanted to see their effect on humans. Some drugs provoked convulsions in the man he was in charge of caring for, but he sat on a chair, taking notes.

He knew when the visiting nurse would visit. So, he made sure to give the man, Charlie, a heavy sedative, just in case she noticed something off. As soon as she left, he knew he had hours to play doctor with his victim until the next professional visit.

Donald knew what he could get away with. He knew which doctor was the sharpest. So, he behaved accordingly in front of them.

He did not anticipate injecting more patients than he did. So, he had to go to other floors to get the proper medications without arousing suspicion on his own floor. Not only that. He built a small lab in his room above his mother’s. There, he could create his own poisons without being caught.

He documented everything. This included the patients’ conditions and their deterioration. He even documented their expressions as they were being assaulted. Contemplating ways to improve their suffering, he read those passages repeatedly. He thrived on reading those notes.

Causing fear would deserve 1 star. Fear and pain, 2 stars. Conscious awareness if they knew what he was doing, 4 stars. Panic while immobilised, 5 stars. All the above within the experience, 5 stars, and a bonus for merit.

One could say he earned his nickname, “The Angel of Death”, many times over, although he thought he was doing—to some of these patients, a merciful act.

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