Charles Cullen

[2/22/1960] Born in West Orange, New Jersey: Last of 8 children including 5 sisters and 2 brothers

[9/1960] Father dies at age 56

[1969] First suicide attempt: mixed an assortment of chemical together from chemistry set and drank it 5th grade: Charles teased at school and wrote book with one of his only friends

[1971] entitled Infinity Years Will Never Know about growing up in a world in which life was meaningless

[1975-1976] Fascinated by the works of Dostoyevsky: Favorite book was Crime and Punishment about a man who commits murder

[12/6/1977] Mother killed in a car accident

[1978] Bullied in high school: Goes to a party and decided to fight back by lacing drinks with rat poison but no one dies

[April 1978] Drops out of high school and enlists in the Navy

[April] Receives training to become a ballistic missiles technician in the Navy

[July 1979] Given 1st assignment aboard nuclear submarine U.S.S. Woodrow Wilson

[July 1979] Considered a “misfit” by crew members: Taunted, ridiculed, hazed, and given the nickname “Fish-belly”

[1980] Discovered sitting in stolen hospital gown, mask, and gloves at the missile control panel: Incident was reported

[10/30/1981] Reassigned to U.S.S. Canopus

[3/30/1984] Issued a discharge from the Navy: records not public whether the discharge was for medical or psychological reasons Enrolls in Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing in Montclair, New Jersey

[March 1987] Brother James dies from drug overdose

[May 1987] Graduates from nursing school

[6/7/1987] Marries computer programmer Adrienne Taub

[June 1987] Starts working in burn unit of St. Barnabus Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey

[Spring 1988] 1st daughter born

[6/11/1988] 1st kill: 72-year-old John Yengo-used Lidocaine

[1989] Received numerous speeding tickets and started drinking heavily

[12/90-2/91] Psychologically and physically abuses family especially during winter by turning heat off; starts torturing the family’s 2 pet Yorkshire terriers often placing them in trash bins

[January 1992] Fired from St. Barnabus

[February 1992] Begins working in Coronary Care Unit at Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg, New Jersey

[Summer 1992] 2nd daughter born

[1/11/1993] Wife files domestic violence complaint and requests a restraining order that is denied by the judge

[1/15/1993] Wife files for divorce

[1/22/1993] Cullen served with divorce papers

[1/25/1993] Wife files another domestic violence complaint and requests a temporary restraining order because she feels that Charles’s access to medications could put her and daughters at risk

[1/31/1993] Attempts suicide and is sent to the Behavioral Health Unit at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

[2/5/1993] Released and went home

[3/9/1993] Kills Lucy Mugavero, 90, at Warren Hospital with digoxin—a heart stimulant

[3/23/1993] Arrested for breaking into the home of Michelle Tomlinson

[4/16/1993] Wife applies for and granted a restraining order; has no visitation rights with his kids; Charles attempts suicide again and sent to Carrier Clinic in Belle Meade, New Jersey

[7/23/1993] Kills Mary Natoli, 85, at Warren Hospital with digoxin

[8/10/1993] Pleads guilty to trespassing and harassment of Michelle Tomlinson

[8/11/1993] Attempts suicide again

[9/1/1993] Kills Helen Dean, 91, at Warren Hospital with digoxin

[10/1993] Passes a polygraph during the investigation of Dean’s death

[12/1/1993] Quits job at Warren Hospital

[12/7/1993] Divorce from Adrienne finalized; Adrienne awarded custody and Charles is granted unsupervised visitation of children

[April 1994] Begins working at Hunterdon Medical Center in ICU in Flemington, New Jersey

[June 1994] Receives Pennsylvania nursing license

[October 1994] Receives award for diligence and hard work from colleagues; starts dating married nurse at Hunterdon

[1/21/1996] Kills Leroy Sinn, 71, with digoxin at Hunterdon

[5/31/1996] Kills Earl Young, 75, with digoxin at Hunterdon

[6/9/1996] Kills Catherine Dext, 49, with digoxin at Hunterdon

[6/24/1996] Kills Frank Mazzacco, 65, with digoxin at Hunterdon

[7/10/1996] Kills Jesse Eichlin, 81, with digoxin at Hunterdon Starts working at Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey

[August 1997] Fired from Morristown Memorial Hospital for poor job performance

[February 1998] Hired by Liberty Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania

[5/13/1998] Cullen declares bankruptcy

[10/1/1998] Cullen fired from Liberty after “accidentally” breaking a patient’s arm

[November 1998] Starts working part-time at Easton Hospital ICU in Easton, Pennsylvania

[December 1998] Starts working as a night nurse in burn unit of Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, New Jersey

[12/31/1998] Kills Ottomar Schramm, 78, with digoxin at Easton Hospital

[8/31/1999] Kills Matthew Mattern, 22, with digoxin at Lehigh Valley Hospital

[1/3/2000] Attempts suicide again via carbon monoxide; sent to Warren County Crisis Center

[2/21/2000] Attempts to kill Stella Danielczyk with an overdose of digoxin

[April 2000] Leaves Lehigh Valley Hospital

[June 2000] Starts working at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

[March 2001] Charles’s brother, Edmond, dies of brain cancer

[6/22/2001] Kills Irene Krapf, 79, with digoxin at St. Luke’s

[11/8/2001] Kills William Park, 72, with digoxin at St. Luke’s

[1/9/2002] Kills Samuel Spangler, 80, with digoxin at St. Luke’s

[5/5/2002] Kills Daniel George, 82, with digoxin at St. Luke’s

[6/2/2002] Kills Edward O’ Toole, 76, with digoxin at St. Luke’s

[6/7/2002] Resigns from St. Luke’s after the hospital’s growing suspicions of him

[7/8/2002- 7/24/2002] Starts working and quits Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania due to rumors circulating about him

[9/3/2002] St. Luke’s reports “probable unprofessional conduct” to Pennsylvania state nursing board

[9/8/2002] Starts working at Somerset Medical Center in Somerset, New Jersey

[9/26/2002] Pennsylvania state nursing board starts an investigation of Cullen’s activities while employed at St. Luke’s

[1/6/2003] Investigation completed and findings shared with police

[2/12/2003] Kills Elenor Stoecker, 60, with digoxin at Somerset Medical Center

[2/23/2003] Kills Joyce Mangini, 74, with digoxin at Somerset Medical Center

[2/23/2003] Kills Giacomino Toto, 89, with digoxin at Somerset Medical Center

[3/11/2003] Kills John Shanagher, 83, with norepinephrine at Somerset Medical Center

[4/6/2003] Kills Dorthea Hoagland, 80, with norepinephrine at Somerset Medical Center

[5/5/2003] Kills Melvin Simcoe, 66, with sodium nitroprusside at Somerset Medical Center

[5/15/2003] Michael Strenko, 21, with norepinephrine at Somerset Medical Center

[6/13/2003] Attempts to kill 40-year-old Jin Kung Han with digoxin

[6/28/2003] Kills Florian Gall, 68, with digoxin at Somerset Medical Center

[7/13/2003] Kills Pasquale Napolitano, 80, with dobutamine at Somerset Medical Center

[8/11/2003] Kills Chris Hardgrove, 38, with norepinephrine at Somerset Medical Center

[8/27/2003] Attempts to kill 80-year-old Frances Agoada

[9/20/2003] Kills Krishnakant Upadhyay, 70, with digoxin at Somerset Medical Center

[9/23/2003] Kills James Strickland, 83, with digoxin at Somerset Medical Center

[10/3/2003] Somerset Medical Center reports suspicious deaths to Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office

[10/21/2003] Kills Edward Zizik, 73, with digoxin at Somerset Medical Center

[10/25/2003] Gall’s body exhumed and autopsy revealed that he died from deliberate overdose

[10/31/2003] Cullen fired from Somerset and New Jersey police request his employment records Tells police during interrogation that he has administered 30-40 lethal drug injections during his 16-year career as a nurse

[12/15/2003] Charged with the murder of Gall and attempted murder of Han

[12/17/2003] Transferred to Trenton State Psychiatric Hospital

[12/17/2003] Cullen surrenders his New Jersey nursing license

[12/18/2003] Cullen’s public defender announces that his client won’t help with the investigation unless authorities agree not to seek the death penalty

[1/6/2004] Cullen returns to Somerset County Jail

[4/29/2004] Cullen pleads guilty to murder of 13 patients and the attempted murder of 2 patients at Somerset Medical Center

[5/19/2004] Pleads guilty to murdering 3 people at Warren Hospital

[10/7/2004] Pleads guilty to murdering Ottomar Schramm at Easton Hospital

[10/14/2004] Charged with 6 more murder charges in Lehigh County

[11/17/2004] Pleads guilty to the murder of 5 patients at St. Luke’s as well as 1 murder and 3 attempted murders at Lehigh Valley Hospital

[12/16/2004] Pleads guilty to the 1988 murder of John Yengo

[March 2005] Government launches an investigation of the hospitals where Cullen worked to see if federal laws were broken by a failure to act more promptly against Cullen

[6/27/2005] Cullen pleads guilty to 5 murders committed at Hunterdon Medical Center

[12/6/2005] Press releases that Cullen wants to donate his kidney to a relative of an ex- girlfriend

[1/11/2006] Press releases that Cullen has stopped cooperating with investigators and demands to be sentenced so he would be free to proceed with the transplant operation, if permitted

[3/2/2006] Cullen is confronted by family members of victims and sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms for the murder of 22 and the attempted murder of 3 in New Jersey. This means that he will not be eligible for parole until he has served 397 years. Cullen will be sentenced at a later date for the murder of 7 and the attempted murder of 3 in Pennsylvania.

[3/18/2006] Press releases that a New Jersey judge has agreed to allow Cullen to donate his kidney