At alleged Woodstock killer's home, neighbours in shock
Elizabeth Wettlaufer was seen at her Woodstock, Ont., apartment yesterday evening
Friends and neighbours of Elizabeth Wettlaufer are in disbelief as they learn the Woodstock, Ont., woman has been charged with killing eight elderly people at the nursing homes where she worked as a registered nurse.
"We would chat and have laughs. She seemed like an everyday, normal kind of person," Derek Gilbert, who lives in the same apartment building as Wettlaufer, said in an interview.
"This is shocking."
People who know Wettlaufer describe her as a friendly, unassuming woman. Known as Beth around the apartment complex, Wettlaufer lived alone with her small dog, Nashville.
Gilbert said Wettlaufer would come to his unit to chat or have coffee and that she recently went out for dinner with his mother. He said Wettflaufer would talk about her job and how much she enjoyed being a nurse.
"She just really enjoyed her work," he said.
Gilbert said he recently noticed police officers in the building, a midrise apartment complex on James Street in Woodstock, a community of around 37,000 about halfway between London and Hamilton.
He said Wettlaufer was at home as late as yesterday evening.
Karen Price lives in the building next to Wettlaufer's and would often see her walking her dog.
"She was such a nice person, easy to talk to," Price said in an interview. "It's surprising. I don't see how somebody could do that."
Wettlaufer, 49, is facing eight counts of first-degree murder in deaths that occurred between August 2007 and August 2014.
The victims were between the ages of 75 and 96. Police would not say exactly how they died, only that seven of the individuals received a fatal dose of a drug.