Nation : ‘Monster in Nurse’s Whites’ Sentenced in Injection Deaths

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. —  Convicted killer Richard Angelo, a nurse who tried to become a hero by reviving patients he injected with lethal doses of drugs, was sentenced today to 61 1/3 years to life in prison.

“During my many years on the bench, I’ve heard many stories of horror, but this is at the top of the list,” said Suffolk County Court Judge Alfred Tisch.

“The course of conduct taken by this defendant gives new meaning to the concept of depraved indifference,” Tisch said as Angelo, 27, stood before him without expression, occasionally biting his lip.

Angelo, described by the prosecution as “a monster in nurse’s whites,” was convicted Dec. 14 of two counts of second-degree murder and one count each of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the deaths of four patients from fatal injections of Pavolon, a muscle-relaxant drug.

Angelo’s parents, Joseph and Alice Angelo, sat behind him in the front row but showed no emotion while the judge imposed the sentence. As he spoke, Tisch glanced at the two retired schoolteachers and remarked to them, “It is likely that during the remainder of your natural life your son will be incarcerated.”

As a handcuffed Angelo was being taken out of the courtroom, the son of one of his murder victims shouted, “Enjoy life in jail, fat boy.”