Posted on 12/06/2005 11:21:22 AM PST by Born Conservative
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — A killer nurse who murdered at least 29 patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by injecting them with lethal doses of drugs wants to donate his kidney to save an ailing person's life.
Charles Cullen has asked prosecutors to allow him to travel to New York so doctors can perform the surgery, his attorney said Tuesday.
Somerset County Deputy Public Defender Johnnie Mask Jr. said prosecutors have agreed to let Cullen undergo the operation in New Jersey, but not travel to New York for it.
"I don't know what the objections are" to doing the surgery in New York, Mask said. "Security and expense have always been thrown up as an obstacle."
Mask said that doing the transplant in New Jersey would mean the recipient would have to find new doctors here and undergo months more of testing.
In exchange for permission to give the kidney in New York, Cullen is willing to appear in court when he is sentenced to life in prison, Mask said.
Mask would not identify the intended recipient of the kidney, but The Star-Ledger of Newark, citing unnamed sources, reported in Tuesday's newspapers that it is a relative of Cullen's ex-girlfriend.
Cullen has filed papers to waive his right to appear in court for the sentencing — an action that has enraged relatives of his victims, who want to confront him one more time.
At one point after Cullen's 2003 arrest, Mask said Cullen wanted to be able to explain his actions to his victims' survivors. But his position has changed, Mask said, because the victims' families and victim-rights groups have been hostile. Cullen has also turned down all interview requests, including those from major television newsmagazine shows, Mask said.
By appearing at a sentencing, Cullen could answer at least some questions about his crimes.
Mask said he hopes to get an answer in the next few weeks on the transplant and any deal related to Cullen's appearance at the sentencings, which could come in the next few months.
Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest would not comment Tuesday on the transplant offer or the deal Cullen has proposed.
In a series of court appearances in northern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, Cullen has admitted to 29 murders and six attempted murders over the course of his 16-year nursing career. In the latest plea, Monday, he admitted to attempting to kill Somerset Medical Center patient Philip Gregor in 2003.
There could be more pleas in the future, though authorities and Mask agree that the investigations are winding down.
Cullen was arrested and charged with some murders in 2003; the next year, he pleaded guilty and agreed to help authorities determine exactly whom he killed in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Heck, I say give both kidneys!
Give two and save alot morE!......
Good thing he doesn't offer to donate his heart..........
After all,..ya have to have one before you could donate it......
Ping
I don't know what to think about this. I'm pretty much stuned.
Make him donate his beeber too.
I'm with ya there. Full abdominal contents donor.
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