An
angel of mercy is a rare type of
serial killerA serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Often, a sexual element is involved with the killings...
who is usually female, and employed as a caretaker. The angel of mercy is often in a position of power and decides the victim would be better off if they no longer suffered. This person then uses their knowledge to manufacture the death of her or his victim. As time goes on, this behavior escalates to encapsulate the healthy and the easily treated.
One known serial killer that does seem to fit this description is
Jane ToppanJane Toppan , born Honora Kelley, was an American serial killer and female lust murderer. She confessed to 31 murders in 1901...
.
An
angel of mercy is a rare type of
serial killerA serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Often, a sexual element is involved with the killings...
who is usually female, and employed as a caretaker. The angel of mercy is often in a position of power and decides the victim would be better off if they no longer suffered. This person then uses their knowledge to manufacture the death of her or his victim. As time goes on, this behavior escalates to encapsulate the healthy and the easily treated.
One known serial killer that does seem to fit this description is
Jane ToppanJane Toppan , born Honora Kelley, was an American serial killer and female lust murderer. She confessed to 31 murders in 1901...
. As a nurse, she would derive pleasure by saving the lives of her patients after bringing them to the brink of death through drug-induced comas. Soon afterwards, she found she derived more pleasure in their deaths.
In literature
The two spinster aunts in
Joseph KesselringJoseph Otto Kesselring was an American writer and playwright known best for his play Arsenic and Old Lace, written in 1939 and originally entitled Bodies in Our Cellar....
's play
Arsenic and Old LaceArsenic and Old Lace is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. The play was directed by Bretaigne Windust, and opened on 10 January 1941. On 25 September 1943, the play...
act as angels of mercy for lonely old men, poisoning them with elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychine and cyanide.
The character
Annie WilkesAnne Marie Wilkes Dugan, usually known as Annie Wilkes, is a fictional character and the antagonist in the 1987 novel Misery, by Stephen King. In the 1990 film adaptation of the novel, Annie Wilkes was portrayed by Kathy Bates, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal...
in the
Stephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American writer of contemporary horror fiction, science fiction, fantasy literature, and screenplays. An estimated 300–350 million copies of King's novels and short story collections have been sold, and many of his stories have been adapted for film, television, and...
novel
Misery seems to be a serial killer of this type. Additionally, "Angel of mercy" is mentioned in
Agatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE , was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays...
's novel
By the Pricking of My ThumbsBy The Pricking of My Thumbs is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1968 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at twenty-one shillings and the US edition at $4.95...
. The novel
The 5th HorsemanThe 5th Horseman is the fifth book in the Women's Murder Club series featuring Lindsay Boxer by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro first published on February 2006...
in
James PattersonJames B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about African-American psychologist Alex Cross.-Biography:James Pattersonis a former chairman of the advertising company J. Walter Thompson...
's
Women's Murder ClubWomen's Murder Club is an American police procedural and legal drama, which ran on ABC from October 12, 2007, to May 13, 2008. The series is set in San Francisco, California and is based on the 'Women's Murder Club' series of novels written by James Patterson...
series features an "Angel of Mercy" serial killer. The term is also mentioned in a
Fear FactoryFear Factory is an American metal band. The band formed in 1989 and have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
song "Demanufacture".
On Television
In the television series
DexterDexter is an American television drama series that airs on the premium channel Showtime. Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan , a covert serial killer governed by a strict moral code who works for the Miami Metro Police Department as a blood spatter analyst.The show is based on...
, Dexter Morgan's first kill is his father's nurse, an angel of mercy, who worked in the fictional Angel of Mercy Hospital.