Pa. ‘killer nurse’ linked to deaths of 17 patients, says she wants to ‘sign and be done’ after confession

PITTSBURGH – Heather Pressdee, the former nurse from Harrison, Pennsylvania, linked to the deaths of 17 nursing home patients at five facilities, appeared to be frustrated with her defense attorneys during a brief status hearing Friday in Butler County.

Pressdee, facing multiple counts of homicide and myriad other charges, wore an orange jumpsuit with her hands shackled at her waist. She’s been held without bail in the Butler County Prison since her initial arrest in May.

Her attorneys, Phil DiLucente and James DePasquale, asked the judge for a 90-day continuance. Mr. DiLucente said his client still needs to review a portion of the discovery in the case – that is, the information and evidence compiled by the state Attorney General’s Office.

“I reviewed enough of it,” Pressdee interjected. “I want to sign and be done.”

Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Lower Burrell, one of the locations Pressdee was employed.

DiLucente asked Common Pleas Judge Joseph Kubit to allow two days for the next hearing, likely sometime in early May.

All told, Pressdee faces four counts of homicide, 18 counts of attempted homicide and 22 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person.

Coworkers at one of the nursing homes she worked at called her “The Killer Nurse,” according to the charges against her.

“It’s been 10 months, I confessed,” Pressdee said loudly to her attorneys in open court. “What is the big deal?”

DiLucente told her that no judge would accept any type of plea if the defense hadn’t been privy to all of the evidence and information.

“That’s just how this works,” he said.

Ms. Pressdee appeared to cry at one point, accusing the attorneys of not listening to her. Her parents sat quietly in the gallery of the small courtroom, and she waved to them as deputies led her from the courtroom.

“She has to review the discovery,” Mr. DePasquale said after the hearing. “She can’t make an informed decision without reviewing all the discovery.”

He said the AG’s office, which is prosecuting the case, is supposed to get the last of that discovery to defense counsel next week.

Seventeen patients died after receiving care from Ms. Pressdee, though she currently faces murder charges related to four patients – those for whom investigators could concretely prove a cause of death. She’s charged with attempted homicide in connection with the 13 other deaths as well as in the cases of five patients who survived.

Mr. DePasquale said the “voluminous nature of the situation” has slowed the process.

“We’re talking about 22 cases, each case with volumes of records – most are medical records,” he said.

Ms. Pressdee, nonetheless, is in a good state of mind, Mr. DiLucente said, Mr. DePasquale added a caveat: “When you’re charged with all this, how good is your mental state?”

He said their client accepts the situation and she understands it.

“It might sound trite,” he said, “but she is remorseful.”

In two criminal complaints spanning more than 40 pages, agents from state Attorney General Michelle Henry’s office wrote that Ms. Pressdee confessed her actions in regard to each victim. The first set of charges came in May. Dozens more were added in a separate case in November after more families brought their suspicions to law enforcement.

Mr. DePasquale said that he thinks the AG’s office is done filing charges in the case.

“My understanding is there are not going to be anymore incidences charged,” he said.

Ms. Pressdee, 41, did not begin her nursing career until 2018. She attended the Community College of Allegheny County in 2003 and 2004 but never finished her degree. She went on to work 14 years as a veterinary technician at the Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center. She told police that she provided critical care to animals, including anesthesia, and practiced euthanasia.

She worked at six different nursing facilities in less than three years, and she was at her seventh when she was arrested. She is accused of killing or trying to kill patients at five of those facilities:

- Concordia at Rebecca Residences in West Deer

- Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Lower Burrell

- Quality Life Services Chicora

- Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Kittanning

- Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Butler