Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that a nurse from western Pennsylvania has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for administering lethal doses of insulin to patients at various skilled nursing facilities. Heather Pressdee, hailing from Natrona Heights, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted murder.
The charges relate to Pressdee's actions involving the administration of lethal and potentially lethal insulin doses to 22 patients across facilities in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, and Westmoreland counties since 2020. Many patients died shortly after receiving the insulin or sometime later.
Under a plea agreement, a Butler County Judge sentenced Pressdee to three consecutive life sentences for the first-degree murder charges. Additionally, she received 380 to 760 years of consecutive incarceration for the attempted murder charges.
"The defendant used her position of trust as a means to poison patients who depended on her for care," stated Attorney General Henry. "This plea and life sentence will not bring back the lives lost, but it will ensure Heather Pressdee never has another opportunity to inflict further harm. I offer my sincere sympathy to all who have suffered at this defendant’s hands. I commend my agents and investigators, and assisting agencies, who meticulously worked this investigation to uncover the defendant’s terrible acts."
During the hearing in Butler County Court, several relatives of victims shared their pain through victim impact statements. They expressed anguish upon learning that their loved ones' deaths were caused by criminal acts rather than natural causes.
The Office of Attorney General began investigating late in 2022 after receiving a referral about a patient under Pressdee's care. The investigation linked multiple deaths to her actions. Charges were filed against Pressdee in May and November 2023 following her arrest in May 2023.
Senior Deputy Attorneys General Jeffrey Baxter and Edward “Kee” Song along with Deputy Attorney General Pete Caravello prosecuted the case from the Office of Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section.
Funding for Pennsylvania's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit comes primarily from a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant totaling $10,632,312 for Federal fiscal year 2024. The remaining funding amounting to $3,544,100 is provided by Pennsylvania.