Sister Godfrida: The Killer Nun

Early in 1977, nurses employed at the public hospital in Wetteren, Belgium, began comparing notes on curious events in the 38-bed geriatric ward. The death rate had increased dramatically in recent months, with twenty-one patients lost in the span of a year. Other cases revealed signs of mistreatment, including catheters ripped from the bladders of elderly patients.The nurses started keeping a log and eventually, all fingers pointed to 44-year-old Sister Godfrida, a Josephite nun who was the Mother Superior of the geriatric ward. Born Cecile Bombeek, the product of a rigid Catholic home, Sister Godfrida adopted her religious name after joining the Apostolic Order of St. Joseph. In 1976, the aftermath of brain surgery left her addicted to morphine. And she would go to great lengths to feed this addiction.