A nurse is facing multiple charges of administering lethal or potentially lethal doses of insulin to 22 patients at several health care centres across Pennsylvania.
Heather Pressdee was charged on Thursday with two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said.
The 41-year-old was already facing charges of killing two nursing home patients and injuring a third, which were brought in May.
Pressdee allegedly gave excessive doses of insulin to the patients – some diabetic and some not – over the last three years.
In total, 17 patients cared for by Pressdee died, Attorney General Michelle Henry said. The nurse was charged with first-degree murder in the cases for which physical evidence was available to support the cause of death, and attempted murder where patients survived or a cause of death could not be established.
The patients who died ranged in age from 43 to 104.
‘Disturbing allegations’
Insulin was typically administered during overnight shifts when staffing was low and the emergencies would not immediately result in patients being taken to hospital, Ms Henry said.
“The allegations against Ms Pressdee are disturbing,” she added. “It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them.”
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The nurse’s lawyer told Sky News’ US partner NBC News that their goal was to avoid the death penalty.
According to court documents, Pressdee sent her mother numerous texts between April 2022 and May of this year in which she discussed her unhappiness with various patients and colleagues and spoke about potentially harming them.
She also voiced similar complaints about people she met at restaurants and other places outside of the care facilities where she worked, authorities said.
Charging documents from May said Pressdee had a history of being “disciplined for abusive behaviour towards patients and/or staff at each facility resulting in her resigning or being terminated”.
She held a number of jobs at nursing homes and facilities in western Pennsylvania beginning in 2018 for short periods of time, according to the documents.
Pressdee remains in custody at Butler County Prison, without bail.
The style choices of politicians have long been scrutinised by voters and the media.
Women have historically been subject to more inspection for their looks than men.
But all politicians are communicating through their style, according to two experts.
“We receive most of our information, many of us, through screens and through the visuals,” says Hazel Clark, professor of design and fashion at the Parsons School of Design in New York.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been leaning into trouser suits.
“The well-fitted suit, the more masculine suit, is telling voters that she is not a politician’s wife, she is not the president’s wife, she is the president,” says Deirdre Clemente, professor of history at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
She wore a dark suit to make her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The look “gives that sense of the legal profession, judges and authority. I think it was just saying ‘I’m here to be taken seriously, I can be your leader’,” says Ms Clark.
Many of the audience were wearing white, thought to be a reference to the suffragettes, who fought for women to have vote.
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“I think there’s a lot of weight in the choice of white in the audience of the DNC that night and her choice of a black suit was a power move,” Ms Clemente said.
Donald Trump has had a consistent style for many years – he’s known for his dark blue suit and silky red tie.
“He seems to have been wearing the same red tie since the 1970s. It seems to have gotten longer,” said Ms Clemente.
“It is his way of projecting power, confidence and stability.”
And his vice presidential pick JD Vance seems to have adapted his style to match.
“It’s putting on a uniform to say we are all one, we are all following this person. I think sameness, perhaps, with the party as well,” said Ms Clark.
“With Trump it’s almost become like a costume now.”
Harris often wears a pearl necklace, a reference to her college sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was founded by black women at Howard University.
“Her wearing of the necklace is absolutely a shout-out to all the women who have supported her and that sorority is central to that,” said Ms Clemente.
The vice president is also known for her love of Converse shoes.
The trainers, which are associated with American basketball culture, “are a powerful cultural tool because what she’s saying is these shoes are just like the ones you have in your closet”.
Mr Trump and his supporters often wear the instantly recognisable red Make America Great Again baseball cap.
“The MAGA hat has an incredible amount of power, especially here in battleground states,” said Ms Clemente. “You see MAGA hats all around.”
Baseball caps are “ubiquitous in being used to signify something, it’s like having a slogan on your t-shirt”, says Ms Clark.
One accessory all US politicians are rarely seen without is an American flag pin badge on their lapel, which can be used to show patriotism.
It may also project a message that “we are all fighting for the same team” despite political differences, said Ms Clemente.
With seven weeks to go until the US goes to the polls, Sky’s dedicated team of correspondents goes on the road to gauge what citizens in key swing states make of the choice for president.
This week they focus on the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Mark Stone travels to Florida where the foiled attack took place, while James Matthews has been finding out more about the suspected would-be assassin in his hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Plus, Martha Kelner attended a Trump town hall in Flint, Michigan, to hear him speak for the first time after the attempt on his life, and asked voters if it will impact the way they vote in November.
A previous Titan submersible dive to the Titanic was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure, one of the mission’s passengers has said.
Fred Hagen had paid a fee to go on a dive in the Titan in 2021, two years before it imploded and killed all five passengers onboard.
He told a US Coast Guard panel investigating the tragedy on Friday that his trip was aborted underwater when the Titan began malfunctioning and it was clear they weren’t going to reach the Titanic wreck site.
“We realised that all it could do was spin around in circles, making right turns,” Mr Hagen said. “At this juncture, we obviously weren’t going to be able to navigate to the Titanic.”
He said the Titan resurfaced and the mission was scrapped.
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