Charles Edmund Cullen

Serial Killer

Charles Edmund Cullen: The Angel of Death

Early Life

Charles Edmund Cullen was born on February 22, 1960, in West Orange, New Jersey. He was the youngest of eight children in a working-class Catholic family. His father, Edmond, a bus driver, died when Charles was just seven months old. Cullen described his childhood as "miserable," experiencing constant bullying by his schoolmates and his sisters' boyfriends. At the age of nine, he made his first suicide attempt by drinking chemicals from a chemistry set. His mother, Florence Cullen, died in a car accident on December 6, 1977, when Charles was 17 years old. Deeply affected by her death, he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1978. Cullen served aboard the submarine USS Woodrow Wilson but faced hazing and bullying from his fellow crewmen. He attempted suicide several times during his service and was eventually medically discharged in 1984. Following his discharge, Cullen attended the Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing and graduated in 1986. He married Adrienne Taub in 1987, and the couple had two daughters before divorcing in 1993.

Criminal Career

Cullen's career as a nurse spanned 16 years, during which he worked at nine hospitals and one nursing home across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He used his position to commit a series of murders, primarily by administering lethal doses of medications such as digoxin and insulin to his patients. His crimes often went undetected due to the existing medical conditions of his victims and the lack of stringent oversight in the healthcare facilities where he worked.

Known Victims

• June 11, 1988: Judge John W. Yengo Sr., 72, at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ
• March 9, 1991: Lucy Mugavero, 90, at Warren Hospital, Phillipsburg, NJ
• July 23, 1991: Mary Natoli, 85, at Warren Hospital, Phillipsburg, NJ
• September 1, 1991: Helen Dean, 91, at Warren Hospital, Phillipsburg, NJ
• January 21, 1996: LeRoy Sinn, 71, at Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, NJ
• May 31, 1996: Earl Young, 76, at Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, NJ
• June 9, 1996: Catherine A. Dext, 49, at Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, NJ
• June 24, 1996: Frank Mazzacco, 66, at Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, NJ
• July 10, 1996: Jesse Eichlin, 81, at Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, NJ
• December 31, 1998: Ottomar A. Schramm, 78, at Easton Hospital, Easton, PA
• August 31, 1999: Matthew Mattern, 22, at Liberty Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Allentown, PA
• June 22, 2001: Irene Krampf, 79, at St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, PA
• November 8, 2001: William Park, 72, at St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, PA
• January 9, 2002: Samuel Spangler, 80, at St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, PA
• May 5, 2002: Daniel George, 82, at St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, PA
• June 2, 2002: Edward O'Toole, 76, at St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, PA
• February 12, 2003: Eleanor Stoecker, 60, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• February 23, 2003: Joyce E. Mangini, 74, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• February 23, 2003: Giacomino J. Toto, 89, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• March 11, 2003: John J. Shanagher, 83, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• April 6, 2003: Dorthea K. Hoagland, 80, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• May 5, 2003: Melvin T. Simcoe, 66, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• May 15, 2003: Michael T. Strenko, 21, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• June 28, 2003: Reverend Florian J. Gall, 68, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• July 13, 2003: Pasquale M. Napolitano, 80, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• August 11, 2003: Christopher B. Hardgrove, 38, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• September 20, 2003: Krishnakant Upadhyay, 70, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• September 23, 2003: James R. Strickland, 83, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ
• October 21, 2003: Edward P. Zizik, 73, at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ

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Confirmed Victims: (24)

John W. Yengo Age: (72), Date of Death: 1998-06-11

    ...View 23 additional victims
Survivors:

Stella Danielczyk Age: (73), Date of Attack: February 2000

John Gallagher Age: (90), Date of Attack: February 8, 2001

Paul Galgon Age: (72), Date of Attack: December 28, 2001

Philip Gregor Age: (48), Date of Attack: June 18, 2003

Jin Kyung Han Age: (40), Date of Attack: June 29, 2003

Frances Agoada Age: (83), Date of Attack: August 27, 2003

Charles Cullen - Wikipedia

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