The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder

In the car, Danny and Tim try to listen in on Amy and Charlie. Unfortunately, the wireless unit is of poor quality. In the restaurant, Amy realizes that Charlie has dressed for a date. Charlie reveals that he was the topic of conversation on the radio and then relays all the news outlets that have covered his story. Their subsequent conversation is strained, filled with false-starts and half-formed sentences. Amy asks him about his termination, about Reverend Gall, and his history of employment. Charlie answers her questions vaguely, making implications but never confessing his culpability.

Amy takes a moment to recover herself in the bathroom, struggling against anxiety at being so close to Charlie. When she returns to the booth, they continue talking about one of the hospital investigations against him. Amy compliments him but makes it clear that she knows of his guilt. She tries to coax information out of him by appearing as an ally who wants to help him. When she pushes him to confess, Charlie changes, becoming cold and distant. In the car, the detectives are getting too much feedback to hear the conversation in real time. They watch Charlie leave the restaurant. Amy leaves several minutes later and collapses in their back seat, crying. She relays her experience.

Amy goes to the prosecutor’s office, where she signs statements before going to the hospital Christmas party. She has a reputation as a party girl, and her coworkers expect her to make an appearance. She bounces between anxiety, sadness, guilt, and anger as she gets ready. She drinks in her hotel room and then arrives late to the party while the CEO of Somerset Medical Center, Dennis Miller, gives a speech that is clearly about Charlie. Her rage at the situation and her knowledge of the hospital’s liability makes her lash out, drinking and making disparaging comments during the speech. Later, she dances with Dennis, trying to confront him. The music, alcohol, and his disinterest in talking makes it impossible for her to get her point across. Eventually, she leaves the party.

Meanwhile, Charlie is arrested by two officers who ambush him while he’s driving. Tim and Danny interrogate him, trying a range of tactics to get a confession. Charlie begins by repeating the words “I can’t” and then begins rocking and moaning to himself. The prosecutor ends the interrogation, concluding that they’re going nowhere. Tim returns home and struggles with not having gotten a confession. The next morning is a Saturday, and after running errands Tim decides to try one more tactic, calling the assistant prosecutor at home to confirm that his decision is legal. Tim calls Danny, and the two reach out to Amy.

Tim and Danny lie to Charlie, claiming that Amy has been hysterical and has used government connections to speak privately to him. They have him sign a second Miranda warning before they take him in for additional questioning. Amy grapples with her confidential informant status, trying to fight her guilt at her role in Charlie’s arrest. After Danny and Tim interrogate Charlie for a while, they take him to an office where Amy is waiting. While in a room with him, Amy realizes that he needs to be locked away. She convinces him to confess, and he eventually admits to having murdered 40 patients.

Graeber addresses some of the controversy of Charlie’s confession—that he didn’t mention any patients by name and that his actions have been attributed to many more deaths than he confessed to. Tim and Danny use tips and data from the various hospitals to identify 26 probable victims, and Charlie pleads guilty for 13 murders and two attempted murders. At Somerset County Jail, Charlie falls into patterns that include meetings with Reverend Kathleen Roney, the deacon of the jail. One day, Charlie receives a letter from Cathy’s mother, asking if Charlie would be willing to donate a kidney to her son Ernie. Father of four, Ernie contracted strep that eventually targeted his immune system. His kidneys have failed and, without a transplant, he’ll die. However, the high demand for kidney transplants puts him low on the list, decreasing his odds of being selected.

Charlie decides to find out if he’s a donation match, a decision fraught with controversy because the families of his victims see this as his trying to play God. Kathleen visits with Charlie to ensure that he’s attempting donation for the right reasons. Ultimately, she helps him send his blood samples for assessment. Kathleen then attends a Celtic Christian Druidic spiritual retreat, and while there she receives the news that Charlie is a perfect match for Ernie. However, they meet immediate resistance.

In March 2006, Charlie attends a hearing meant to decide whether he’ll be allowed to donate his kidney. He makes the hearing into a spectacle, demanding that the judge step down from office so loudly and violently that his mouth must be duct taped shut. The victims’ families are horrified and angry, stripped of their right to speak to Charlie about his crimes.

Later, Charlie is sad and frustrated that the donation hasn’t yet gone through. He’s then transferred to the New Jersey State Prison, where guards antagonize him. Five months pass, and he increasingly expresses his frustration that the donation hasn’t occurred. Charlie grapples with how his past decisions are now continuing to change his future, including his inability to perform a “good” act. Kathleen faces similar derision on the outside as people harass her about the state of Charlie’s soul.

Late one night, guards come for Charlie and transport him to the St. Francis Medical Center, where he’s given a false name and drugs to relax him. His kidney is removed and sent via helicopter to the Stony Brook medical complex, where Graeber waits to know the outcome of the surgery.

Civil trials follow the criminal ones, but the settlements of those trials are sealed. New Jersey State Legislature passes laws to prevent nurses like Charlie from practicing, forcing hospitals to report dangerous nurses. Graeber tries to interview representatives of the hospitals involved in the case, but they either won’t or can’t respond. Tim retires and begins a private detective agency specializing in medical murder; Danny transfers to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Amy quits nursing and works as a therapist but has yet to tell Charlie about her involvement in the case.