AGED CARE NURSE SENTENCE FOR MURDER
Megan Haines, an aged care nurse, was sentenced in December 2016 for the murder of two elderly ladies in May 2014 by deliberate insulin overdose. The murderer was overheard boasting of her deed and getting away with it while watching a true crime TV programme. Read on to find out more.
In a case straight out of a murder mystery, Megan Haines, a 49-year-old aged care nurse, was given a sentence of thirty six years for killing two elderly patients at St Andrews Village nursing home at Balina in May 2014.
The verdict was given in December 2016, and the families of 82-year-old Marie Darragh and 77-year-old Isabella Spencer were present to see the judge award the maximum sentence to the accused. Megan Haines will be eligible for parole no earlier than 2041, twenty five years later, when she herself will be seventy-four.
Haines, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, is said to have boasted while watching a crime show on TV with her former partner that she had used insulin to kill a person without being detected. When giving evidence, she told the jury that she could not recollect that conversation, though she admitted she discussed her nursing knowledge while watching similar TV shows.
The judge, Peter Garling, said that the Haines case displayed a classic abuse of a position of trust. ‘Her conduct was deliberate and calculating,’ he said. ‘It was a gross breach of trust and a flagrant abuse of power.’
It has come to light now that both victims had repeatedly complained about the conduct of Megan Haines toward them. The families of the victims have urged the government to take steps to ensure that elderly people and their complaints are taken good care of, and their needs are met properly.