WOODSTOCK— Already accused in the deaths of eight patients at the nursing homes where she worked, a nurse is now facing six additional charges relating to the elderly people in her care -- including four counts of attempted murder.

With the charges announced Friday, Elizabeth Wettlaufer now faces eight counts of first-degree murder, four of attempted murder and two of aggravated assault in connection with incidents which occurred while she was working as a nurse between 2007 and 2016.

According to a court document, Wettlaufer is accused of injecting the six new alleged victims with insulin.

Wettlaufer appeared in court Friday to hear the additional charges. Clad in a green prison sweatsuit, she appeared to show no emotion, and didn’t say a word during the brief hearing. Several family members of the deceased attended the hearing for their first look at her.

Wettlaufer had a blank expression on her face as she briefly surveyed the courtroom.

She looked away as the families and friends of some alleged victims glared at her in silence. Moments later, her head was down as she shuffled out of court, her shackles clanking.

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“This has got to be one of the toughest days of my life,” said Arpad Horvath Jr., the son of one of the alleged victims, outside the court. “I’ve got feelings of rage and I’ve got feelings of anger that I can’t even say right now because you probably couldn’t print it.”

Horvath said he was struck by what he considered a lack of emotion on Wettlaufer’s face.

“No one in this world should be able to play God,” Horvath said.

Wettlaufer, 49, has been in custody since her arrest last fall.

Outside the court, police did not say if any more charges were expected.

“At this point, all I can say is that the investigation is ongoing,” said OPP Sgt. Dave Rektor, adding that people who have information about the case are encouraged to report it to Woodstock city police.

Before she arrived at the Woodstock courthouse, police announced the investigation led to new charges relating to four more patients at Caressant Care, a patient at Telfer Place in Brant County and another patient in a private residence in Oxford County.

Wettlaufer is charged with aggravated assault against Caressant Care residents Clotilde Adriano, 87, and Albina Demedeiros, 90, between June and December 2007.

Wettlaufer is charged with the attempted murders of Wayne Hedges, 57, between September and December in 2008, and Michael Priddle, 63, between January 2008 and December 2009. Both were also Caressant Care residents.

She is also charged with the attempted murders of 77-year-old Sandra Towler, a long term patient at Telfer Place in Brant County, in September 2015 and 68-year-old Beverly Bertram, an in-home care patient, in August 2016.

Adriano, Demedeiros, Hedges and Priddle have since died, but their confirmed causes of death haven’t been attributed to Wettlaufer, police said in the news release.

In addition to the new charges announced Friday, police allege Wettlaufer gave a fatal dose of medication to seven residents of Woodstock’s Caressant Care and one resident at London, Ont.’s Meadow Park long-term-care home. Police have not specified what medication she used in relation to the first-degree murder charges.

The first set of alleged victims have been identified as James Silcox, 84, Maurice Granat, 84, Gladys Millard, 87, Helen Matheson, 95, Mary Zurawinski, 96, Helen Young, 90, Maureen Pickering, 79, and Arpad Horvath, 75.

A peace bond signed by Wettlaufer three weeks before she was arrested prohibited her from possessing insulin, a drug used to treat diabetes, and any controlled medication that wasn’t prescribed.

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A spokesperson for the advocacy group CARP called the new charges disturbing.

“While the families of the alleged victims are dealing with these horrible charges, the investigations into the state of the long term care industry is ringing alarm bells for families across Ontario,” Wanda Morris, CARP vice-president of advocacy and COO, said in a prepared statement.

Susan Horvath, the daughter of Arpad Horvath, was in tears after the court appearance.

“The nursing homes are going to have to get their act together. The inspectors are going to have to get their act together,” she said.

Horvath’s lawyer, Sandra Zisckind, said a lawsuit is pending against Wettlaufer’s former employers, which she hopes will help bring about change in long-term care facilities.

“There will be a lawsuit against the various nursing homes and her previous nursing homes who we believe suspected or knew about the ongoing issues and are, therefore, responsible for any deaths that ensued after the fact,” Zisckind said outside court.

Wettlaufer’s lawyer Brad Burgess said he expects to receive more evidence from the Crown on Jan. 20.

The case was put over until Feb. 15, when Wettlaufer is scheduled to appear in court again via video link.

Long after family members had left and the swarm of media had cleared, Horvath Jr. remained, standing alone by the black metal gate surrounding the door where prisoners enter and leave the courthouse.

Still angry, he said he wanted to be the last face Wettlaufer sees as she left the building.

“I’ll be here,” he said. “I was in the nursing home everyday with my father. I was in the hospital everyday with my father. And I will be here in court everyday with my father. I know he’s here watching.”

Recap: Wettlaufer court appearance

CORRECTION

Elizabeth Wettlaufer, the Woodstock nurse accused of killing patients now faces eight counts of first-degree murder, four of attempted murder and two of aggravated assault in connection with incidents which occurred while she was working as a nurse between 2007 and 2016. A Jan. 14 article about the new charges faced by Wettlaufer misstated the number of attempted murder charges.

With files from Peter Edwards

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