Case: ANGEL OF DEATH
Richard Angelo, an Eagle Scout and voluntary fireman, gained national attention as the "angel of death." He was a registered nurse on the cardiac/intensive care unit at a Long Island hospital, where he murdered patients by injecting them with the drug Pavulon. Angelo was ultimately convicted of two counts of depraved indifference murder (second-degree murder), one count of second-degree manslaughter, one count of criminally negligent homicide, and six counts of assault with respect to five of the patients and was sentenced to 61 years to life. 24 Angelo had committed the murders in a bizarre scheme to revive the patients and be thought of as a hero. The attorney for the estate of one of the alleged victims had filed a wrongful death suit against Angelo and the hospital a day before the verdict was rendered by the jury.
Ethical and Legal Issues
1. Discuss the ethical and legal issues and values that were violated in this case.
2. Discuss what steps a hospital should take to prevent such events.