Hello Crime Sunday Readers, hope you are having a great day so far. Today’s case is slightly different from the ones I have done in the past because it is still ongoing and there is no verdict yet. I will be sure to post updates for you guys on my YouTube channel. Today I am bringing you the case of Lucy Letby, a nurse accused of killing seven babies and attempting to kill ten more. As there is little information given to the public, there is still a lot we don’t know. I will keep you updated.
Lucy Letby was born in Hereford, England in 1990 to Susan and David Letby. She was their first and only child. Susan and David have been described as very loving parents who had a close relationship with Lucy and are still married to this day. They have owned the same home for over 25 years in a really nice neighborhood. A neighbor who lived next door to the Letbys for decades said she watched Lucy grow up. She said she was sweet and grew up to be a very lovely lady, she also said this news is utterly shocking and she can’t fathom it. Lucy had a few close friends who described her as sweet but a bit socially awkward at times. Her friends have been reported to say that they can’t believe what is happening and don’t know what to believe. She enjoyed her going out with her small circle of close friends but Lucy had a clean record and has no past mental health concerns. She could easily be described as the girl next door.
In 2011, at age twenty-one, Lucy graduated from Chester University with honors in Pediatric Nursing, a degree specializing in the care of newborns and children. Her parents were so proud of her that they published a new article about her accomplishments along with her graduation photo. During nursing school, Lucy worked at Countess of Chester Hospital as she was required to gain work experience to obtain her Degree. They were so impressed that after obtaining her degree, they offered her a position in the neonatal unit. According to her friends, Lucy landed her dream job caring for babies. Her coworkers would go on to say that Lucy was a reliable hard worker.
In 2011 the hospital started the “Baby Grow Campaign” which was put into place to raise 3 million dollars for a new neonatal care wing as their current unit was outdated and cramped. In 2013, Lucy was the face of this campaign and in one interview she said “My role involves caring for a wide range of babies that require various levels of care. Some are here for a few days and some are here for a few months. I enjoy seeing them progress and supporting their families.” The new wing was completed in the year 2020 after the funds were successfully raised.
In 2013, it was reported that the hospital only had two infant deaths; in 2014 there were only three. However, in 2015, they saw a drastic change in those numbers when eight babies died under the care of this hospital. By June 2016, it was reported that they already had six infant deaths. This was 10% over the national average of infant loss in England. It was reported that this hospital did have more premature babies born at a lower weight than the average hospital but this still did not explain the increase in infant loss. These deaths were reported to be sudden, unexplained, and they did not react to treatments that ordinarily succeeded in saving the lives of infants.
Concerns grew for Ian Harvey, the Medical Director of Countess of Chester Hospital, so he approached the Royal College of Pediatric and Child Health to invite them to review their care routine. At this time, he decided, along with the Nursing Director and Trust Board, to drop from a level two neonatal care unit to a level one. This means they would no longer care for babies born before 32 weeks or care for babies who required intensive care or ventilation. The review took place in September of 2016 and all that was said was the care wasn’t ideal but wasn’t out of the ordinary and that there are many neonatal units functioning like this. They also noted that the area had a high number of substance abuse and domestic issues in the area. There were many times when the hospital would find themselves short staff so they often relied on staffing agencies to fully staff shifts but employees said they were happy with those who came to work with them through these agencies and expressed no concerns about them. New staff members said there were communication issues as they felt like they couldn’t approach senior staff members with concerns. It was clear this hospital was not perfect but many hospitals face staffing and communication issues, and this still did not explain the increased number of infant deaths. They also concluded that the investigation for infant deaths had to be strengthened.
In May 2017, the hospital contacted their local police force to investigate fifteen infant deaths that took place between June 2015 and June 2016. Ian said this was not a decision that he made lightly, but he wanted to make sure he did everything he could to understand what was happening and to get the families the answers they were desperately searching for. The Hospital became a huge media story in the UK and articles came out stating that they had the highest number of infant deaths in the country.
After a year-long investigation, Lucy Letby was suspended from the hospital in 2018. Lucy was held on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of six others. She was not yet charged but was held for three days for questioning before she was bailed out. During that time, Police searched the outside of Lucy’s home and conducted forensic examinations. They searched her gardens, drains, and garage. It was unclear what the police were looking for.
Lucy was rearrested in connection with the attempted murder of three additional babies in June 2019.
Fast forward to November 2020, Lucy was arrested again for the murder of eight infants and the attempted murder of ten more infants. She was accused of injecting infants’ bloodstream with air, insulin, and milk. This was three years since the police first launched their investigation into the high number of infant deaths at the hospital.
At this point, there was little to no information on what evidence they had against Lucy but as the trial goes on more information has been released. This is what we know so far.
One of Lucy’s colleagues came forward as a witness and said he walked in on Lucy alone with a premature baby who was born twelve weeks early. He said seeing her alone with a newborn made him uncomfortable because he had started to notice a coincidence between unexplained deaths and serious collapses in the presence of Lucy Letby. He said that when he walked in, he noticed the infant’s oxygen levels had dropped to dangerously low levels, Lucy was doing nothing to assist the infant, and the alarm that ought to have been sounding to notify the nursing staff of the infant’s condition had been silenced.
This was one of many colleagues of Lucy’s that came forward and said they witnessed Lucy standing over incubators when alarms would sound to alert them of a baby’s life-threatening condition.
On many occasions, Lucy had been seen by colleagues standing in the doorway just staring at babies who were clearly in distress.
Police searched Lucy’s house and found medical records of twins that she attempted to kill. When they asked her about this, she said they weren’t souvenirs and she must have taken them home by mistake. They also found a photo she kept on her phone of a sympathy card she sent to one family after their baby died. She said she grew attached to this family but sending sympathy cards was not something she did often. They also found a very disturbing sticky note that Lucy had written on and it said things like
“I am evil. I killed them on purpose because I am not good enough. I don’t deserve to live. I will never marry and have children. I feel very alone and scared.” It also had words like “hate, panic, fear, and lost” written out on it. Her lawyer says this was not a confession note but her way of venting when she learned what she is being accused of.
During the search, investigators also found on Lucy’s computer that she would “stalk” families after their baby had passed away on social media platforms like Facebook multiple times to see if they were still grieving. It was always stated that she looked up other parents of babies she cared for as well.
Lucy texted one of her friends saying that “it was fate that some babies grew unwell sometimes.”
Another strange thing about this case is nobody in Lucy’s life has come forward to say “I thought there was something off about that girl.” Anyone who has spoken has only had positive things to say about her.
I have researched this case for days and have to say that not everyone thinks she is guilty. Her loving parents have been seen in court mouthing “I love you” to their daughter and some people think she is being framed. Many people who knew Lucy are shocked and are having a hard time believing she could do such a thing. How well do we really know our friends? Our Co-workers? I have researched many True Crime cases and know that evil like this does exist but also know that some people have been accused of crimes they didn’t commit. I am going to keep my opinion to myself until this trial is over as there is still so much we don’t know. Please feel free to leave your opinions in the comments below. If you would like to stay updated on this case, make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel as I probably won’t update on my blog until the trial is over. It has been said the trial will last at least six months.
Thank you for reading! I hope you guys have a great Sunday!