Capturing the Killer Nurse

{{Infobox television

| image = Capturing the Killer Nurse.jpg

| caption = Promotional release poster

| based_on = {{Based on|The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder| Charles Graeber}}

| writer = {{Plainlist|

Tim Travers Hawkins
Robin Ockleford

}}

| director = Tim Travers Hawkins

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = {{Plainlist|

Benji Merrison
Will Slater

}}

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| producer = Robin Ockleford

| cinematography = Will Pugh

| editor = Michael Rolt

| runtime = 94 minutes

| company = {{Plainlist|

Sandpaper Films
Fifty Fifty Post

}}

| network = Netflix

| released = {{Start date|2022|11|11}}

}}

Capturing the Killer Nurse is a 2022 true crime documentary film about serial killer Charles Cullen and how investigators were able to prove Cullen was killing patients while working in hospitals and at a nursing home as a nurse in the United States. The film is based on the 2013 book The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber and is directed by Tim Travers Hawkins, who wrote the screenplay with Robin Ockleford. Produced by Sandpaper Films and Fifty Fifty Post, it was released on November 11, 2022, on the streaming service Netflix.

Backstory

Charles Cullen confessed to killing up to 40 people in nine hospitals and one nursing home during the 16 years he worked as a nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.{{Cite web |last=Janos |first=Adam |title=Inside the Minds of Serial Killers Who Worked in Health Care |url=https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/serial-killers-health-care |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=A&E |language=en}} Some suspect the number to be significantly higher. Nearly all the hospitals where he worked harbored suspicions that he was endangering patients, but none of them informed Cullen's future employers of their concerns.{{Cite news |date=2013-04-29 |title=Angel of Death: Killer nurse stopped, but not soon enough |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/angel-of-death-killer-nurse-stopped-but-not-soon-enough-29-04-2013/ |access-date=2022-11-06}}

He was eventually captured by Somerset County police detectives. Somerset Medical Center, where at least 13 patients died, at first ignored the urging of Dr. Steven Marcus, director of the NJ Poison Control Center, to contact the police, then delayed. Once they contacted police, they lied and failed to help them with its investigation.{{Cite news |date=2013-04-25 |title=Detectives on catching serial killer Charles Cullen |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/detectives-on-catching-serial-killer-charles-cullen/ |access-date=2022-11-06}}

Newspaper headlines dubbed Cullen "The Angel of Death."{{Cite news |last=Bovsun |first=Mara |date=2020-11-08 |title=JUSTICE STORY: New Jersey's 'Angel of death' |work=New York Daily News |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/true-crime-justice-story/ny-angel-of-death-killer-nurse-20201108-objtmsca5bb3vdqqnqa2lrg7fu-story.html |access-date=2022-11-06}} He was the subject of the 2013 true crime book The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder written by journalist and author Charles Graeber,{{Cite web |date=2013-09-13 |title=Book review: The Good Nurse: A True Story Of Medicine, Madness, And Murder |url=https://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/the-good-nurse-a-true-story-of-medicine-madness-and-murder/ |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Maclean's}} and was featured in the 2022 film The Good Nurse by director Tobias Lindholm, starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne.{{Cite news |last=Nicholson |first=Amy |date=2022-10-27 |title=The Good Nurse' Review: Bad Medicine |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/movies/the-good-nurse-review.html |access-date=2022-11-06}}

In 2005, the state Health Care Professional Responsibility and Reporting Enhancement Act (HCPRREA), also referred to as the "Cullen" Law, was signed into law in New Jersey.{{Cite web |date=2017-07-18 |title=New Jersey's final "Cullen" regulation and updated "Cullen Form" |url=https://www.certiphi.com/resource-center/compliance-services/new-jerseys-final-cullen-regulation-and-updated-cullen-form/ |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=certiphi.com}}

In March 2006, Cullen received 11 life sentences for killing 29 patients.{{Cite web |date=2006-03-02 |title=Nurse who killed 29 sentenced to 11 life terms |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna11636992 |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=NBC News |language=en}} A week later at his second sentencing hearing, he was given another 6 more life terms. He is incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, New Jersey.{{Cite news |last=Simons |first=Roxy |date=2022-10-26 |title=What Happened to Charles Cullen and Where Is He Now? |language=En |work=Newsweek |url=https://www.newsweek.com/good-nurse-netflix-what-happened-charles-cullen-where-now-1754772 |access-date=2022-11-06}} He is not eligible for parole until June 2388.{{Cite news |last=Vadala |first=Nick |date=2022-10-27 |title=The true story of Charles Cullen, serial killer portrayed in Netflix's 'The Good Nurse' |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.inquirer.com/news/good-nurse-netflix-charles-cullen-20221027.html |access-date=2022-11-06}}

Synopsis

Capturing the Killer Nurse is a 2022 documentary film about the convicted serial killer Charles Cullen. It includes interviews with Cullen, his co-workers, detectives, and Amy Loughren, a friend and fellow nurse who assisted the detectives. There are interviews with family members of the victims, journalist and author Charles Graeber and audio from Cullen himself. The film also takes a look at the U.S. healthcare system, saying that profit motives of private healthcare helped Cullen continue to commit his crimes without consequences. It began streaming on Netflix on November 11, 2022.{{Cite web |title=Capturing the Killer Nurse - Film releasing in the United States on November 11th, 2022 at 3:00 AM EST |url=https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81512108 |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Netflix Media Center |language=en}}

Reception

Capturing the Killer Nurse was received with mixed reviews. Nick Pope at Esquire writes, "The audience needs to be prepared for a shocking tale", and calls it "truly horrifying."{{Cite web |last=Pope |first=Nick |date=2022-11-11 |title='Capturing the Killer Nurse': The True Story of Charles Cullen, America's Worst Serial Killer |url=https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a41750344/capturing-the-killer-nurse-true-story-of-charles-cullen/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221113044759/https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a41750344/capturing-the-killer-nurse-true-story-of-charles-cullen/ |archive-date=2022-11-13 |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=Esquire |language=en-GB}} Film critic for Variety Owen Gleiberman suggests that both the documentary Capturing the Killer Nurse and the film The Good Nurse are "engineered to feel like a drama" and "show you that the Cullen saga may be the first case of a serial killer who was enabled by corporate malfeasance."{{Cite web |last=Gleiberman |first=Owen |author-link=Owen Gleiberman |date=2022-11-10 |title='Capturing the Killer Nurse' Review: A True-Crime Documentary About the 'Good Nurse' Serial Killer and the Forces That Enabled Him |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/capturing-the-killer-nurse-review-charles-cullen-the-good-nurse-1235428531/ |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Kate Erbland, film critic for IndieWire, calls it "a flimsy documentary about murderous nurse Charles Cullen" and concludes "If nothing else, “Capturing the Killer Nurse” should inspire its viewers, eager for both more information and more nuance, to seek out Lindholm's film."{{Cite web |last=Erbland |first=Kate |date=2022-11-09 |title='Capturing the Killer Nurse' Review: Just Go Watch Netflix's Other Murderous Nurse Movie Instead |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2022/11/capturing-the-killer-nurse-film-review-netflix-documentary-1234779951/ |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=IndieWire |language=en}} {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|71|5.5|7||ref=yes|access-date=November 19, 2022}}