Coroner who didn’t probe Wettlaufer victim death testifies at inquiry
A coroner who failed to find anything suspicious about the deaths of two people killed by an Ontario nurse told a public inquiry Wednesday that he never considered the possibility that a caregiver in a long-term care facility would deliberately harm their patients.
Dr. William George, who declined to investigate the death of one of Elizabeth Wettlaufer’s victims and deemed the passing of another accidental, said he regarded long-term care homes as safe places where purposeful attacks would not occur.
The long-time coroner for the Woodstock, Ont., area had praise for the Caressant Care home where Wettlaufer worked for years and deliberately injected numerous patients with insulin. The former nurse ultimately pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault in a string of incidents that started in 2007.
During his testimony at the public inquiry examining Wettalufer’s actions, George admitted that he failed to complete mandatory forms or retain notes required by the office regulating the province’s death investigations.