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Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: True Crime, Documentaries, Netflix, TV And Film
Jess Hardiman
A terrifying new Netflix documentary on America’s worst ever serial killer has dropped on the streaming site today, ready for you to indulge your morbid fascination this weekend. Watch the trailer here:
Capturing the Killer Nurse is a documentary film about precisely what it says on the tin, detailing how investigators proved ICU nurse Charles Cullen was killing patients.
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The doc is based on the best-selling book by Charles Graebner, The Good Nurse, which was also turned into a recent Netflix film starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne, featuring interviews with the detectives who cracked the case and stopped Cullen getting away with his ‘twisted spree’.
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We also hear from nurse and whistle-blower Amy Loughren, family of the victims and – through audio footage – Cullen himself.
A synopsis from Netflix says: “Charlie Cullen was an experienced registered nurse, trusted and beloved by his colleagues at Somerset Medical Center in New Jersey.
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“He was also one of history’s most prolific serial killers, with a body count potentially numbering in the hundreds across multiple medical facilities in the Northeast.”
It continues: “This new documentary from Emmy-nominated director Tim Travers Hawkins (XY Chelsea) reveals the twisted story behind Cullen’s hidden spree of murders.
“Using audio from Cullen himself and emotional sit-downs with those closest to the events – including whistle-blower and fellow nurse Amy Loughren, the detectives who cracked the case, author Graeber, and family members of the victims – the film traces how the truth was initially too shocking for anyone to comprehend, and how Cullen’s horrific actions underscore an even bigger danger still lurking in our healthcare system.”
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Before he got a job at Somerset, Cullen had worked at nine hospitals across New Jersey and Pennsylvania - each new facility hiring him despite him being fired or forced out of the previous.
Loughren risked her life by helping police with their investigation and going undercover to expose Charles, wearing a wire to record their conversations and eventually talking him into confessing.
Culllen was arrested in December 2003 on suspicion of the murder of several patients, eventually pleading guilty to murdering 29 patients and attempting to kill six others, and is now serving a life sentence at New Jersey State Prison.
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However, in interviews since his arrest, it has become clear that Cullen had killed many more victims, who he couldn't remember by name. It's been estimated that Cullen may have been responsible for 400 deaths, which would make him one of the most notorious serial killers in history.
Netflix's dramatised film is also still available to watch after premiering last month, and follows Amy (Jessica Chastain) as she risks her life and the safety of her children to uncover the truth about her colleague Charlie (Eddie Redmayne).
Watch Capturing the Killer Nurse on Netflix now.