Edson Isidoro Guimarães (born 1957) is a Brazilian

nursing assistant Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—includi ...

and convicted

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 ...

. He confessed to five murders of which he was convicted of four, but is suspected of committing up to 131 in total. He claimed that he chose patients whose conditions were irreversible and who were in pain.

Crimes

Guimarães worked as a nurse in the Salgado Filho Hospital in the Méier district of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil. He was caught in 1999 when a hospital porter saw Guimarães fill a

syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside ...

with

potassium chloride Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...

and inject a comatose patient who immediately died. The police were informed and a higher than average death rate on his ward increased their suspicions. On his arrest he confessed to five murders. He told a television reporter prior to his trial, "I don't regret what I did", adding "I did it to those in irreversible

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

s and whose families were suffering." He was convicted on February 21, 2000, of the murders of four patients and sentenced to 76 years in prison. He is thought to have killed up to 131 patients between January 1 and May 4, 1999. He told reporters: "The

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

mask was taken away, yes. There were five patients that this happened to... I chose the patients I saw suffering, generally patients with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, patients who were almost terminal. I am in peace because the patients were in a coma and had no way of recovering." One possible motive for the murders is thought to be the fact that he was paid $60 a time to inform local

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

s of a patient's death so that they could contact the deceased's relatives. According to Josias Quintal, Rio's secretary for public security, "He may have begun doing it to earn money and then just lost control".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guimaraes, Edson Isidoro 1957 births 1999 murders in Brazil Brazilian nurses Brazilian people convicted of murder Brazilian serial killers Living people Male serial killers Medical serial killers Male nurses Nurses convicted of killing patients People convicted of murder by Brazil Poisoners

Crimes

See also

References