Donald Harvey (April 15, 1952 – March 30, 2017) was an American
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 ...
who claimed to have murdered 87 people, though official estimates are between 37 and 57 victims. He was able to do this during his time as a hospital
orderly
In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. The highest ro ...
. His spree took place between 1970 and 1987.
Harvey claimed to have begun killing to "ease the pain" of patientsmostly cardiac patientsby
smothering them with their pillows. However, he gradually grew to enjoy killing and became a self-described "
angel of death." At the time of his death, Harvey was serving 28
life sentences
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes ...
at the
Toledo Correctional Institution
The Toledo Correctional Institution (ToCI) is a state prison for men located in Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, owned and operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The facility was opened in 2000, and houses approximately 75 ...
in
Toledo,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, having pled guilty to murder charges to avoid
execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
.
Early life
Donald Harvey was born in
Hamilton, Ohio on April 15, 1952,
the oldest of three children born to Ray and Goldie Harvey. He was raised in the tiny
Appalachian town of
Booneville, Kentucky
Booneville is a home rule-class city in Owsley County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 81 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Owsley County. It is located at the junction of Kentucky Route 11 and Kentucky Route 30 o ...
,
where his parents were struggling tobacco farmers and members of the local
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
church. From the ages of five to eighteen, Harvey was
sexually molested
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
by both an uncle and a neighbor, but he told no one except his sister, and only after the abuse ended.
Harvey dropped out of school in the ninth grade,
but he earned a
correspondence school
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
GED
The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...
in 1968.
After an arrest for
burglary in March 1971, Harvey enlisted in the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
, but was discharged after nine months due to two
suicide attempts
A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide resu ...
; after these
nervous breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
s, he came to terms with his
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
.
Murders
Harvey began working in hospitals at the age of 18. His first medical job was as an
orderly
In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. The highest ro ...
at the
Marymount Hospital in
London, Kentucky
London is a home rule-class city in Laurel County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 7,993 at the time of the 2010 census. It is the second-largest city named "London" in the United States and the ...
. He later confessed that during the ten-month period he worked at the hospital, he killed at least a dozen patients. His second victim was killed in the room with Danny George, a twelve-year-old child. Harvey was insistent that he killed purely out of a sense of empathy for the suffering of those who were
terminally ill
Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced h ...
, but also admitted that many of the killings were committed were due to anger at the victims. His victims ranged from middle age to elderly and were unusually broad in range, including men and women of various races, ethnicities and backgrounds. The only thing they had in common was that they were all cardiac patients.
The full extent of Harvey's crimes may never be known since so many were undetected for so long. He did not use any particular ''
modus operandi'' and used many methods to kill his victims, such as:
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, ...
,
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 ...
,
insulin,
suffocation, miscellaneous poisons,
morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
, turning off
ventilators
A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...
, administration of fluid tainted with
hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the '' Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection.
Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. ...
and/or
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
(which resulted in a hepatitis infection, but no HIV infection, and illness rather than death), and insertion of a coat hanger into a
catheter
In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tubing (material), tube made from medical grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgi ...
, causing an abdominal puncture and subsequent
peritonitis
Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part o ...
. Cyanide and arsenic were his most-used methods, with Harvey administering them via food or injections. The majority of Harvey's crimes took place at the Marymount Hospital, the
Cincinnati V.A. Medical Hospital, and Cincinnati's Drake Memorial Hospital. At various times, he worked as an orderly or an
autopsy assistant.
Harvey did not limit his victims to helpless hospital patients. When he suspected his lover and roommate Carl Hoeweler of infidelity, he poisoned Hoeweler's food with arsenic so he would be too ill to leave their apartment. He poisoned two of his neighborssickening one, Diane Alexander, by putting hepatitis serum in her drink, and killing the other, Helen Metzger, by putting arsenic in her pie. He also killed Hoeweler's father Henry with arsenic.
Investigation
After keeping his crimes hidden for seventeen years, Harvey slipped in March 1987. An autopsy on John Powell, who had died abruptly after spending several months on
life support following a motorcycle accident, revealed large amounts of cyanide in his system. Harvey became a
person of interest when investigators learned he had been forced to resign from the Cincinnati VA hospital after he was caught stealing body parts for
occult rituals. At the time, most hospitals did not vet orderlies as closely as doctors or nurses. When they brought Harvey in for questioning, he confessed to Powell's murder, claiming he had
euthanized
Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...
him with cyanide.
Pat Minarcin, then an anchor at Cincinnati station
WCPO-TV
WCPO-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer ...
, found it unlikely that someone who had spent almost two decades caring for patients could suddenly kill one without having killed before. During his report on the night of Harvey's arrest, Minarcin asked on-air if there had been any other deaths. It was soon revealed that several nurses at Drake had raised concerns with administrators upon noticing a spike in deaths while Harvey was employed there, but they had been ordered to keep quiet. Not wanting to chance that he would be
acquitted
In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
, the nurses contacted Minarcin and told him that there was evidence Harvey killed at least ten more people.
Over the next several months, Minarcin investigated the suspicious deaths and amassed enough evidence to air a half-hour special report detailing evidence that linked Harvey to at least 24 murders in a four-year period. Harvey had been able to stay under the radar in part because he worked in an area of Drake where patients were not expected to survive.
When Harvey's
court-appointed lawyer
A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...
, Bill Whalen, was briefed in advance about Minarcin's findings, he immediately asked Harvey if he had killed anyone else. Harvey replied that by his "estimate," he had killed as many as 70 people. Whalen knew that if prosecutors could link Harvey to more than one murder, Ohio law allowed them to seek the
death penalty. In a bid to save his client's life, Whalen offered prosecutors a
plea bargainif the death penalty were taken off the table, Harvey would accept a sentence of
life without parole
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
and confess to all of his murders. The prosecutors agreed. In a marathon session with prosecutors, Harvey admitted to killing 24 people.
In August 1987, Harvey pled guilty to 24 counts of
first-degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...
. In accordance with the plea agreement, he was sentenced to three concurrent terms of life in prison. The plea agreement allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty if more murders came to light.
With this in mind, that November Harvey pled guilty in
Laurel County (Kentucky) Circuit Court to killing nine patients at Marymount in the 1970s. He was sentenced to life plus 20 years, to run concurrently with the Ohio sentence. Ultimately, Harvey pled guilty to 37 murders. However, he confessed to killing as many as 50 people.
Harvey was admitted to the Ohio prison system on October 26, 1987.
Death
On March 28, 2017, authorities reported that Harvey had been found in his cell severely beaten. He died on March 30, 2017. On May 3, 2019, fellow inmate James Elliott was charged with aggravated murder and other charges related to the death of Donald Harvey. In September 2019, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to killing Harvey. The sentence was originally ordered to run consecutively to his other sentences, but was later changed to run concurrently. Elliott would have become eligible for parole in 2046, when he would have been 71 years old.
Known victims
Media
*
WCPO-TV
WCPO-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer ...
's ''I-Team'', created in 1988, investigated Harvey's crimes. They received several awards for their efforts.
*''
Autopsy'' covered Harvey's crimes in the 1995 episode "The Angel of Death".
*''
Infamous Murders
''Infamous Murders'' was a documentary television series shown on History (U.S. TV channel), The History Channel in the U.S. and the U.K. The U.S. edition was narrated by Don Peoples. In the U.K. edition the narrator is uncredited.
Overview
The ...
'' covered Harvey's case alongside two others in its first episode "Angels of Death", first aired in 2001.
*''
Dr. G: Medical Examiner'' covered the case in the 2009 episode "Killers Among Us".
*''
My Favorite Murder
''My Favorite Murder'' is a weekly true crime comedy podcast hosted by American comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. The first episode was released in January 2016. The podcast debuted at #25 on the iTunes podcast charts and peaked ...
'' featured Harvey's case in its 110th episode, released in 2018.
*Harvey was mentioned along with
Elizabeth Wettlaufer
Elizabeth Tracy Mae "Bethe" Wettlaufer (née Parker; born June 10, 1967) is a convicted Canadian serial killer and former registered nurse who confessed to murdering eight senior citizens and attempting to murder six others in southwestern Onta ...
in the
Season 14 episode of
Criminal Minds
''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...
"Broken Wing", first aired in 2018.
*The podcast
And That's Why We Drink
''And That's Why We Drink'' (ATWWD) is a comedy true crime and paranormal podcast created by Christine Schiefer and Em Schulz.
The show has been in production since February 2017. It updates every Sunday on a variety of podcast platforms as well ...
covers the case in its the 159th episode "A Sinister Vibe Check and the Governor of Noodletown", released in 2020.
See also
*
Serial killers with health-related professions
*
List of serial killers in the United States
References
External links
Donald Harveyat The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
*
ttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-harvey-angel-of-death-beaten-ohio-prison/ CBS News: "Serial killer known as the "Angel of Death" found severely beaten in prison", March 29, 2017'Angel of Death' serial killer dies after attack in prison
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Donald
1952 births
2017 deaths
20th-century American criminals
21st-century American LGBT people
American male criminals
American people convicted of murder
American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
American serial killers
American gay men
Criminals from Kentucky
Deaths by beating in the United States
Health care professionals convicted of murdering patients
LGBT people from Ohio
Male serial killers
Medical serial killers
People convicted of murder by Ohio
People from Butler County, Ohio
People murdered in Ohio
Poisoners
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Ohio
Prisoners who died in Ohio detention
Serial killers murdered in prison custody