The Angel of Death

I know that I annoy some people.  I purposely annoy my sister by producing weird accents and teasing her about her inability to talk without throwing her hands all over the place in accompanying gestures.  My daughter had a stock response for most everything I said to her during her teen years.  The exact phrase was this: “Stop being so annoying!”

Luckily, I never annoyed Daniela Poggiali.  Poggiali typically killed anyone who annoyed her.  She has been dubbed “The Angel of Death” by the Italian press.  The “angel” part of this moniker is a result of her rather striking beauty.

Daniela, age 42, worked as a nurse at a hospital in Lugo, Italy, until her arrest for the deaths of dozens of patients under her care.  By some estimates she may be responsible for as many as 90 deaths.  She is believed to have poisoned her patients with potassium chloride.  At times, Poggiali took selfies while posed with some of her deceased victims.  Police discovered the images on her phone.  In a few images, Daniela Poggiala is seen with a broad smile—sometimes giving a thumbs-up sign—while leaning over her recently departed patients.

Mrs. Poggiali behaved quite calmly, if not coldly, during her arrest and has remained chillingly composed ever since.  She has also been flooded with fan mail and marriage proposals.

As near as anyone can determine Daniela Paggiali killed her patients because either they or some of their family members annoyed her.  She was not opposed to stealing her patients personal items, prescription drugs, or money.

Some of her coworkers were suspicious about the number of deaths while Daniela was on duty.  The death rate was about twice that of normal during those times when Daniela Paggiali was on shift.  Three of her patients died under suspicious circumstances in just one day.

Posted are photographs of Daniela Paggiali gleaned from the internet.

 

--Mitchell Hegman