Rebecca Leighton Arrested in Saline Serial Murders

on July 23, 2011 in Serial Killers by Brian Combs

Tags: Rebecca Leighton

Rebecca Leighton was arrested during a raid on her flat earlier this week. Investigators are questioning her regarding the tampering of saline drips with insulin at Stepping Hill hospital.

The official death toll from the tampering has been raised to five, although investigators are looking at as many as fourteen cases. Most seem to have occurred in the last few weeks.

It appears she was demoted from nurse to charge nurse a few weeks ago. Reports are that this was not a disciplinary issue, but rather an issue of availability of permanent positions.

As with many such cases, neighbors and co-workers are shocked that she could do such a thing.

Five to fourteen victims in such a short period is a short cycle, to say the least. It suggests a psychopathology more akin to a spree killer than a serial killer, although sprees generally result in a suicide by the offender, whether self-inflicted or by cop.

Of course, there are more questions than answers at this point, but we have to wonder:

Did she have a psychotic break of some sort?

Are there any murders from further back?

I haven’t seen any indications of how long she’s worked at that hospital, or as a nurse in general. But investigators need to look back that far, at least.