A Woodstock resident has been charged following a multi-jurisdiction homicide investigation at long-term care facilities in Woodstock and London.
OPP officials say the investigation began on September 29 this year when the Woodstock Police Service received information that eight people had been murdered over a period of several years.
Due to the nature of the allegations, a multi-jurisdictional Major Case Manager was contacted.
Detective Inspector Rob Hagerman of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) was assigned to coordinate the investigation by members of the Woodstock Police Service and London Police Service.
A nurse employed at the facilities, 49-year-old Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer of Woodstock, is charged with eight counts of first degree murder.
The accused appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Woodstock on October 25, 2016 and was remanded into custody.
The names of the victims, their age, and their respective care facility are:
– James Silcox, 84, Caressant Care – Woodstock, August 17, 2007
– Maurice Granat, 84, Caressant Care – Woodstock, December 23, 2007
– Gladys Millard, 87, Caressant Care – Woodstock, October 14, 2011
– Helen Matheson, 95, Caressant Care – Woodstock, October 27, 2011
– Mary Zurawinski, 96, Caressant Care – Woodstock, November 7, 2011
– Helen Young, 90, Caressant Care – Woodstock, July 14, 2013
– Maureen Pickering, 79, Caressant Care – Woodstock, March 28, 2014
– Arpad Horvath, 75, Meadow Park – London, August 31, 2014
As a result of this ongoing investigation, police reiterate there is no further immediate threat to patient or community safety.
