Why did Lucy Letby do it? Five possible motives for killer nurse – including her ‘obsession’ with doctor & sick ‘thrill’
The trial of LUCY Letby never brought to light the evil nurse’s motive for killing babies at the hospital where she worked.
Letby, who denied murdering or attempting to murder babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, never revealed why she did so.
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Experts believe her possible motives included an “obsession” with a doctor at the hospital and enjoying a “thrill” from the illness.
Here are the various motives prosecutors have suggested during Letby’s 10-month trial.
“Obsession” with the doctor
Lucy Letby may have carried out her years-long killing spree to attract the attention of a married doctor with whom she is accused of having an affair.
The 33-year-old nurse, who was found guilty of murdering seven babies, is said to have become obsessed with the male doctor and scrawled notes in her bedroom that read, “I loved you.”
When police first arrested her in July 2018, they found the messages scattered around her home and even hidden in her diary.
Letby, who lived alone with her cats at her semi-detached house in Chester, Cheshire, wrote: “Please help me, please help me (doctor’s name). I entrusted everything to you. (Doctor’s name) I loved you.”
In another, she said, “(Doctor’s name) my best friend.”
Next to the doctor’s name, she wrote, “I can’t do this anymore.”
While she was working on the ward, Letby was accused by a fellow nurse of “flirting” with the paramedic, who cannot be named for legal reasons, her trial said.
The only time Letby showed emotion was when the doctor was speaking in the courtroom.
The paramedic was behind a screen to protect his identity, but the nurse who committed the murder is said to have burst into tears and left her seat abruptly upon hearing his voice.
She exchanged several Facebook messages with him on the same day baby O died, before murdering his triplet brother 24 hours later.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC repeatedly asked Letby if she sabotaged Baby O to get the doctor’s attention.
The doctor’s statement related to baby L, one of several twins whom Letby allegedly injected with insulin.
‘play god’
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC hinted that Letby enjoyed “playing God” by killing babies and then alerting her peers.
After Letby committed her latest murder in June 2016, she told her colleagues, “He’s not getting out of here alive, is he?”
The newborn triplets died soon after.
Johnson called these and similar statements about two previous murders “harbingers of doom”.
He told the jury: “She knew what was going to happen. She controlled things.”
“She was enjoying what was going on. She predicted things she knew would happen.”
“She was practically playing God.”
boredom
Letby told her she found the work less stimulating when she was caring for babies who didn’t need as much medical attention.
As a Band 5 nurse, she was qualified to treat very ill babies in Nursery One – the Intensive Care Unit.
She admitted she craved opportunities to work in the NICU.
sick thrill
Parents and nurses said Letby behaved unusually when babies suddenly slacked off.
Child I’s parents told police they recalled the nurse “smiling and telling how she was present at Child I’s first bath and how much she loved it”.
Johnson suggested that Letby “got a thrill from what you saw in that room, the sadness and despair.”
Evil Letby searched Facebook binges on Death Days and Christmas Day for her victims’ families.
She would often search for victims one after another within minutes, “hunting” for signs of grief.
‘Not good enough’
A handwritten post-it note found in Letby’s purse after her arrest in July 2018 is the closest thing to a confession she produced.
It said: “I killed her on purpose because I’m not good enough to take care of her. I AM MAD I DID THIS.”
Letby added: “I will never have children or get married. I’ll never know what it’s like to have a family.”
But the note was not presented to the court as evidence of Letby’s motive – which is still unknown.