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Angel Of Mercy (criminology)
An angel of mercy or angel of death is a type of criminal offender (often a type of serial killer) who is usually employed as a caregiver and intentionally harms or kills people under their care.Vronsky (2007), pp. 1, 42-43Schechter and Everitt, p. 312 The angel of mercy is often in a position of power and may decide the victim would be better off if they no longer suffered from whatever severe illness is plaguing them. This person then uses their knowledge to kill the victim. In some cases, as time goes on, this behavior escalates to encompass the healthy and the easily treated. Characteristics and motivations The motivation for this type of criminal behaviour is variable, but generally falls into one or more types or patterns: * Mercy killer: Believe the victims are suffering or beyond help, though this belief may be delusional. * Sadistic: Use their position as a way of exerting power and control over helpless victims. * Malignant hero: A pattern wherein the subject endangers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serial Killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three murders, others extend it to four or lessen it to two. Psychological gratification is the usual motive for serial killing, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victim. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking, and killings may be executed as such. The victims may have something in common; for example, demographic profile, appearance, gender or race. Often the FBI will focus on a particular pattern serial killers follow. Based on this pattern, this will give key clues into finding the killer along with their motives. Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beverley Allitt
Beverley Gail Allitt (born 4 October 1968) is an English serial child killer who was convicted of murdering four children, attempting to murder three other children and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six. The crimes were committed over a period of 59 days from February to April 1991 in the children's ward at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, where Allitt was employed as a State Enrolled Nurse. She allegedly administered large doses of insulin to at least two of her victims, and a large air bubble was found in the body of another, but police were unable to establish how all the attacks were carried out. In May 1993, at Nottingham Crown Court, she received thirteen life sentences for the crimes. Mr Justice Latham, sentencing, told Allitt that she was "a serious danger" to others and was unlikely ever to be considered safe enough to be released. She is detained at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire. Allitt is now eligible for release on parole bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annie Wilkes
Annie Wilkes is the main antagonist in the 1987 novel '' Misery'', by Stephen King. In the 1990 film adaptation of the novel, Wilkes was portrayed by Kathy Bates, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. A nurse by training, she has become one of the stereotypes of the nurse as a torturer and angel of mercy. Character background The novel provides Wilkes' backstory, stating that she was born in Bakersfield, California, on April 1, 1943, and graduated from the University of Southern California's nursing school with honors in 1966. After several years of working in hospitals across the country, she settled in a remote portion of Colorado's Western Slope. In both the book and film, Wilkes rescues protagonist Paul Sheldon after he breaks both of his legs in a car accident, and takes him to her home to convalesce. She fawns over Sheldon, a writer of romance novels starring her favorite literary character, Misery Chastain; she professes to be his "number one fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. In inorganic cyanides, the cyanide group is present as the anion . Soluble salts such as sodium cyanide (NaCN) and potassium cyanide (KCN) are highly toxic. Hydrocyanic acid, also known as hydrogen cyanide, or HCN, is a highly volatile liquid that is produced on a large scale industrially. It is obtained by acidification of cyanide salts. Organic cyanides are usually called nitriles. In nitriles, the group is linked by a covalent bond to carbon. For example, in acetonitrile (), the cyanide group is bonded to methyl (). Although nitriles generally do not release cyanide ions, the cyanohydrins do and are thus rather toxic. Bonding The cyanide ion is isoelectronic with carbon monoxide a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strychnine
Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eyes or mouth, causes poisoning which results in muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia. While it is no longer used medicinally, it was used historically in small doses to strengthen muscle contractions, such as a heart and bowel stimulant and performance-enhancing drug. The most common source is from the seeds of the ''Strychnos nux-vomica'' tree. Biosynthesis Strychnine is a terpene indole alkaloid belonging to the ''Strychnos'' family of '' Corynanthe'' alkaloids, and it is derived from tryptamine and secologanin. The biosynthesis of strychine was solved in 2022. The enzyme, strictosidine synthase, catalyzes the condensation of tryptamine and secologanin, followed by a Pictet-Spengler reaction to form strictosidine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but only the gray form, which has a metallic appearance, is important to industry. The primary use of arsenic is in alloys of lead (for example, in car batteries and ammunition). Arsenic is a common n-type dopant in semiconductor electronic devices. It is also a component of the III-V compound semiconductor gallium arsenide. Arsenic and its compounds, especially the trioxide, are used in the production of pesticides, treated wood products, herbicides, and insecticides. These applications are declining with the increasing recognition of the toxicity of arsenic and its compounds. A few species of bacteria are able to use arsenic compounds as respiratory metabolites. Trace quantities of arsenic are an essential dietary element in rats, ham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elderberry Wine
Fruit wines are Ethanol fermentation, fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients (other than grapes); they may also have additional flavors taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any alcoholic fermented beverage except beer. For historical reasons, mead, cider, and perry are also excluded from the definition of fruit wine.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 768 Oxford University Press 2006 Fruit wines have traditionally been popular with home winemakers and in areas with cool climates such as North America and Scandinavia. In subtropical climates, such as in East Africa, India, and the Philippines, banana wine, wine is made from bananas. Labeling Fruit wines are usually referred to by their main ingredient (e.g., ''plum wine'' or ''elderberry wine'') because the usual definition of wine states that it is made from Fermentation (wine), fermented grape juice. In the Euro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arsenic And Old Lace (play)
''Arsenic and Old Lace'' is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the 1944 film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. The play was produced by Lindsay and Crouse and directed by Bretaigne Windust, and opened on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre on January 10, 1941. On September 25, 1943, the play moved to the Hudson Theatre, closing there on June 17, 1944, having played 1,444 performances. The West End production - directed by Marcel Varnel and produced at London's Strand Theatre - enjoyed a similarly long run. Opening on December 23, 1942 and closing on March 2, 1946, it totalled 1,337 performances. Of the 12 plays written by Kesselring, ''Arsenic and Old Lace'' was by far the most successful. According to the opening night review in ''The New York Times'', the play was "so funny that none of us will ever forget it." Plot The play is a farcical black comedy revolving around the Brewster fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Kesselring
Joseph Otto Kesselring (July 21, 1902 – November 5, 1967) was an American playwright who was best known for writing '' Arsenic and Old Lace'', a hit on Broadway from 1939 to 1944 and in other countries as well. Biography He was born in New York City to Henry and Frances Kesselring. His father's parents were immigrants from Germany. His mother was an English Canadian. Kesselring spent much of his life in and around the theater. In 1922, he began teaching vocal music and directed stage productions at Bethel College, a Mennonite school in North Newton, Kansas. After two years, Kesselring left teaching and returned to the stage, working for two years with an amateur theatrical group in Niagara, New York. He began working as a freelance playwright in 1933, completing 12 original plays, of which four were produced on Broadway: '' There's Wisdom in Women'' (1935), "Cross-Town" (1937), ''Arsenic and Old Lace'' (1939), and ''Four Twelves are 48'' (1951). '' Arsenic and Old L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Efren Saldivar
Efren Saldivar (born September 30, 1969) is an American serial killer who murdered patients while working as a respiratory therapist at Adventist Health Glendale, named at that time Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale, California. Early life Born in Brownsville, Texas, he graduated from the College of Medical and Dental Careers in North Hollywood, California in 1988. He obtained work as a respiratory therapist employed by the Glendale Adventist Medical Center, working the night shift when there were fewer staff on duty. Murders While working at Adventist Health Glendale in Glendale, California, Saldivar killed his patients by injecting a paralytic drug which led to respiratory and/or cardiac arrest. These drugs could have included morphine and suxamethonium chloride as they were found in his locker with fresh and used syringes. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niels Högel
Niels Högel (born 30 December 1976) is a German serial killer and former nurse who was sentenced to life imprisonment, initially for the murders of six patients, and later convicted of a total of eighty-five murders. Estimates of Högel's alleged victim count have increased since his first conviction; as of 2020, he was believed to have claimed 300 victims over fifteen years, making him the most prolific serial killer in the history of peacetime Germany. Background Early life and education Niels Högel was raised in the coastal town of Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, in what was then West Germany. Both his grandmother and his father worked as nurses, the latter formerly being employed at the Sankt-Willehad-Hospital in Wilhelmshaven. His mother worked as a paralegal; he has an older sister. According to Högel, he had a sheltered or "protected" childhood and was not exposed to violence at home. On completing his vocational training in 1997 at the Sankt-Willehad-Hospital, Högel b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Swango
Michael Joseph Swango (born October 21, 1954) is an American serial killer and licensed physician who is estimated to have been involved in as many as 60 fatal poisonings of patients and colleagues, although he admitted to only causing four deaths. He was sentenced in 2000 to three consecutive life imprisonment, life terms without the possibility of parole and is serving his sentence at ADX Florence at his own request. Early life Michael Swango was born in Tacoma, Washington and raised in Quincy, Illinois, the middle child of Muriel and John Virgil Swango. Swango's father was a career United States Army officer who served in the Vietnam War, was listed in ''Who's Who in Government 1972–1973'', and became an alcoholism, alcoholic. Upon his return from Vietnam War, Vietnam, John Swango became depression (mood), depressed and he and his wife Muriel divorced. Growing up, Swango saw little of his father and as a result was closer to his mother. He was valedictorian of his 1972 Qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
