‘She has remorse’: Attorneys for nurse accused of giving patients lethal doses of insulin speak out

CHICORA, Pa. — The attorneys for a nurse accused of administering lethal doses of insulin to patients are speaking out.

Heather Pressdee worked all over western Pennsylvania - from Butler and Westmoreland Counties to a hospital in the North Hills.

If you look up Pressdee’s nursing license online, you’ll see her license is suspended.

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The suspension didn’t happen until this past July after she was first charged criminally in May.

Pressdee is now accused of killing four people with deadly doses of insulin and has been charged with the attempted murder of 17 others.

Phil DiLucente and James DePasquale are representing her.

“Make no mistake this is an extremely complex and serious case. This is a case involving a lot of people and we have done our best to the extent possible to prevent and try to get to the goal of not this being certified as a capital case,” DiLucente said.

Their goal is to ensure that Pressdee doesn’t end up on death row.

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“Phil and I have impressed upon her that she was in a very bad place, and the best possible result would be no possibility of the commonwealth seeking the death penalty,” DePasquale said.

Pressdee worked all over the area, caring for hundreds of patients from several counties. Each time she was let go, she was rehired by another facility.

Three families whose loved ones were allegedly killed by Pressdee hired attorney Rob Peirce. He has a lawsuit against Belaire Healthcare & Rehab, claiming that they didn’t do proper background checks, and ignored staff’s concerns about Pressdee.

Her attorneys say Pressdee feels sorry for what happened.

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“She has remorse, yes. I know that sounds trite but as crazy as the whole thing is, she does express remorse, and I think her expression of remorse is sincere,” DePasquale said.

When asked why she allegedly poisoned multiple patients, her attorneys wouldn’t answer.

“The communications we had with our client, we can’t share. There’s going to be a time and place where more of this story will be brought to light,” DiLucente said.

We have reached out to all of the facilities where she’s accused of committing crimes. None of them have gotten back to us with a statement.

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