A former nurse accused of administering drugs to kill eight seniors at long-term care facilities appeared via video link at a Woodstock court today.
Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer, who was charged with eight counts of first degree murder last month, made an appearance at around 9 a.m. from the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton.
According to a CTV News Toronto reporter in the courtroom, Wettlaufer said her name and "that's it?" near the end of her brief appearance.
The charges stem from the death of seven elderly patients at Caressant Care in Woodstock and one patient at Meadow Park in London between 2007 and 2014. The victims ranged in age from 75 to 96 years old.
Brad Burgess, the lawyer representing Wettlaufer, refused to comment on the proceedings but confirmed his client would return in court via video link on Nov. 18.
“We received some disclosure this morning that there is more to come. We’re coming back on the 18th and we’ll see where we’re at then,” he said. “I understand that the case has garnered a lot of attention but it would be inappropriate of me to comment anywhere. Anything I have to say, I’ll say in the courtroom.”
Standing outside courtroom holding her father’s bible, the youngest daughter of James Silcox – of one the eight alleged murder victims – said she believes there is more to the investigation than “what we see on the surface.”
“My father was only in the facility for, in total, eight days and that just didn’t seem right to me,” Andrea Silcox told reporters on Wednesday. “My father was a good, strong man and I work in long-term care myself, it just didn’t seem right.”
Silcox claims she began to feel suspicious about her father’s death after her and her siblings were denied an autopsy.
“The corner said, ‘he lived in long-term care, he was 85 years old, why bother?’” she said.
“There could very well have possibly been a little bit of evidence there. Maybe not… I’ve talked to a doctor and I’ve talked to our staff at work and they said quite possibly all the insulin would have been out of his system by then and we would have had nothing to go on."
She added that she believes the autopsy is “very key” to the investigation though did not suggest exhumation.
Silcox said she’s aware the court proceedings will be a “very slow, very long process” but plans on attending each scheduled date.
“It’ll be worth it in the end, I’m sure,” she said.
Last month, CTV News Toronto learned that Wettlaufer had also spent time at five other nursing homes in the province since 2007.
A source also told CTV News Toronto that investigators were initially alerted to the alleged killings after Wettlaufer had a discussion with someone at the Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto where she was being treated for substance abuse in September.
Furthermore, court records show Wettlaufer had signed a peace bond in early October, revealing that she was seeking treatment there and was also attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
So far, police have not commented on a possible motive for the murders nor provided details on the specific drug used.
“He survived the war, he survived so many things. He survived a little bit of dementia, he survived diabetes and so for him to be allegedly taken out by this woman is very hard to handle,” Silcox said.
When asked about her thoughts on Caressant Care, where her father spent his last days, Silcox said, “oh, I better just keep that one quiet.”
