Donald Harvey is a serial killer responsible for killing 36 to 57
people, many of who were patients at hospitals where he was
employed. His killing spree lasted from May 1970 until March 1987,
only ending after a police investigation into the death of a
patient resulted in Harvey's confession. Labeled the "Angel of
Death" Harvey said he first began to kill to help ease the pain of
dying patients, but a detailed diary he kept paints the picture of
a sadistic, cold-hearted killer.

Childhood Years

Donald Harvey was born in 1952 in Butler County, Ohio. He was
well liked by his teachers, but fellow students remembered him as
being unapproachable and a loner who seemed to prefer being in the
company of adults than playing in the school yard.

What wasn't known at the time is that from age four and for
several years after, Harvey was allegedly being sexually abused by
his uncle and an older male neighbor.

High School Years

Harvey was a smart kid, but he found school to be boring so he
dropped out. At the age of 16 he received a diploma from a
correspondence school out of Chicago and his GED the following
year.

Harvey's First Kill

In 1970, unemployed and living in Cincinnati, he decided to go
to Marymount Hospital in London, Kentucky, to help care for his
sick grandfather. In time he became a familiar face at the hospital
and was asked if he would work as an orderly. Harvey accepted and
immediately was placed into a position where he spent time alone
with patients.

His duties included dispensing medications to patients,
inserting catheters and taking care of other personal and medical
needs. To most in the medical field, a feeling that they are
helping the sick is the reward of their job. But Harvey saw it as
having the ultimate control and power over a person's life. Almost
overnight he became judge and executioner.

On May 30, 1970, just two weeks into his employment, stroke
victim Logan Evans angered Harvey by rubbing feces on his face. In
return, Harvey smothered Evans with plastic and a pillow. No one at
the hospital became suspicious. For Harvey the incident seemed to
unleash an inner monster. From here on, no patient, or friend would
be safe from Harvey's revenge.

He continued to kill 15 patients over the next 10 months that he
worked at the hospital. He often smothered, or hooked up faulty
oxygen tanks to the patients, but when angered his methods became
more brutal an included impaling a patient with a wire hanger
inserted into his catheter.

Harvey's Personal Life

Harvey spent much of his personal time away from work being
depressed and contemplating suicide. During this time he was
involved in two relationships.

James Peluso and Harvey were an on and off lovers for 15 years.
He later killed Peluso when he became too ill to care for
himself.

He was also allegedly involved with Vernon Midden who was a
married man with children and worked as an undertaker. In their
conversations, Midden would sometimes talk about how the body
reacts to different trauma. The information became invaluable to
Harvey as he plotted new, undetectable ways to kill.

When their relationship began to fall apart, Harvey entertained
fantasies of embalming Midden while he was still alive. Now, as his
mind began to branch out from the confinement of the hospital
walls, Harvey considered murdering lovers, friends and neighbors
who crossed him.

Harvey's First Arrest

March 31, 1971, was the last day Harvey worked at Marymount
Hospital. That evening he was arrested for burglary, and Harvey,
who was very drunk, confessed to being a murderer. An extensive
investigation failed to turn up evidence and ultimately Harvey just
faced the burglary charges.

Things weren't going well for Harvey and he decided it was time
to get out of town. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, but his
military career was cut short after two failed suicide attempts. He
was sent home with an honorable discharge for medical reasons.

Depression and Suicide Attempts

Returning home fueled his depression and he again tried to kill
himself. With few options left, Harvey checked himself into the
V.A. hospital for treatment. While there he received 21
electroshock treatments, but was released after 90 days.

Cardinal Hill Convalescent Hospital

Harvey got a part-time clerical job at the Cardinal Hill
Convalescent Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. It is not known if he
killed any patients during the two and a half years there, but the
opportunity to kill them had been decreased. He later told police
that he was able to control the compulsion to kill during this
time.

Morgue Job at the V.A. Hospital

In September 1975, Harvey moved back to Cincinnati, Ohio and
landed a night position in the V.A. hospital. It is believed while
employed there Harvey killed, at the least, 15 patients. Now his
killing methods included injections of cyanide and adding rat
poison and arsenic to his victims foods.

The Occult

During his relationship with Midden, he was briefly introduced
to the occult. In June 1977 he looked into it further and decided
to join. This is where he met his spiritual guide, "Duncan," who
was at one time a doctor. Harvey attributes Duncan for helping him
decide on who would be his next victim.

Friends and Lovers Become Targets

Throughout the years Harvey was in and out of several
relationships, seemingly without harming any of his lovers. But in
1980 this all stopped, first with ex-lover Doug Hill, who Harvey
tried to kill by putting arsenic into his food.

Carl Hoeweler was his second victim. In August 1980, Hoeweler
and Harvey began living together, but problems surfaced when Harvey
found out that Hoeweler was having sex outside of the relationship.
Harvey began poisoning his food with arsenic as a way to control
Hoeweler's wandering ways.

His next victim was a female friend of Carl's who he thought
interfered too much in their relationship. He infected her with
hepatitis B and also tried to infect her with the AIDS virus, which
failed.

Neighbor Helen Metzger was his next victim. Also feeling that
she was a threat to his relationship with Carl, he laced food and a
jar of mayonnaise she had with arsenic. He then put a lethal dose
of arsenic in a pie that he gave to her, which quickly led to her
death.

On April 25, 1983, following an argument with Carl's parents,
Harvey started poisoning their food with arsenic. Four days after
the initial poisoning, Carl's father, Henry Hoeweler, was dead
after suffering a stroke. On the night that he died, Harvey visited
him at the hospital and gave him arsenic tainted pudding.

His attempts to kill Carl's mother continued, but were
unsuccessful.

In January 1984, Carl asked Harvey to move out of his apartment.
Rejected and angry, Harvey tried several times to poison Carl to
death, but failed. Although not living together, their relationship
continued until May 1986.

In 1984 and early 1985 Harvey was responsible for the deaths of
at least four more people outside of the hospital.

A Promotion

All of his effort trying to poison people did not seem to hurt
Harvey's job performance and in March 1985 he was promoted to
Morgue Supervisor. But by July he was once again out of work after
security guards found a gun in his gym bag. He was fined and given
the option to resign. The incident was never documented in his
employment records.

Final Stop - Cincinnati Drake Memorial Hospital

With a clean work record, Harvey was able to land another job in
February 1986, as a nurse's aide at the Cincinnati Drake Memorial
Hospital. Harvey was thrilled to be out of the morgue and back with
the living with who he could "play God," and he wasted little time.
From April 1986 until March 1987, Harvey killed 26 patients and
tried to kill several more.

John Powell is his last known victim. After his death an autopsy
was performed and the smell of cyanide was detected. Three separate
tests confirmed that Powell had died of cyanide poisoning.

The Investigation

The Cincinnati police investigation included interviewing
family, friends and hospital staff. Employees were given the option
to take voluntary lie detectors tests. Harvey was on the list to be
tested, but called in sick on the day he was scheduled.

Harvey soon became the lead suspect in Powell's murder,
especially after investigators learned that co-workers called him
the "Angel of Death" because he was often present when patients
died. It was also noted that patient deaths had more than doubled
since Harvey began working at the hospital.

A search of Harvey's apartment turned up enough incriminating
evidence to arrest Harvey for aggravated first degree murder of
John Powell.

He pled not guilty by reason of insanity and was held on a
$200,000 bond.

Plea Bargain

With the investigators now having his diary, Harvey knew it
wouldn't take long before the full depths of his crimes were
exposed. Also, hospital employees who had always suspected Harvey
of killing patients, began to talk confidentially to a news
reporter investigating the murder. This information was turned over
to the police and the investigation widened.

Harvey knew his only chance to avoid the death penalty was to
accept a plea arrangement. He agreed to a full confession in
exchange for a life sentence.

Confessions

Beginning on August 11, 1987, and throughout several more days,
Harvey confessed to killing over 70 people. After investigating
each of his claims he was charged with 25 counts of aggravated
murder, to which Harvey pled guilty. He was given four consecutive
20-year sentences. Later, in February, 1988, he confessed to
committing three more murders in Cincinnati.

In Kentucky Harvey confessed to 12 murders and was sentenced to
eight life terms plus 20 years.

Why Did He Do It?

In an interview with CBS, Harvey said he liked the control that
comes with playing God, in that you can decide who will live and
who will die. As to how he got away with it for so many years,
Harvey said that doctors are over worked and often do not see
patients after they have been pronounced dead. He also seemed to
cast blame on the hospitals for allowing him to continue to treat
patients who angered him and to friends who tried to mess in his
life. He showed no remorse for his actions.