Soldier to Healer to Night Shift Killer ~ Angel of Death Part 1

 

Today we are writing about someone, most people may know about, or at least heard some part of this story; especially if you spent a fair amount of time in any type of medical facility. This blurb is going to have a massive amount of victims, because it is believed that there are approximately 400, possibly more... so please get comfy as I try to give these victims' some justice...

Let me begin with the assailant/unsuspecting murderer...

His name is Charles Cullen. He was born on February 22, 1960, in West Orange, New Jersey to Edmond and Florence Cullen (nee Ward). Florence was a very young war bride. She was merely 17 years old when she migrated to America after World War II; marrying pretty much as soon as she arrived to the United States of America. As most families back then, his was a devote Catholic and part of a working class family. He was the his seven siblings. 

Charles didn't really get a chance to form a bond with his father, as Edmond, who drove a bus died when he was only 7 months old. Charles later would say his childhood as "miserable" often stating he was constantly bullied at school, and by sisters' boyfriends. When he was 9 years old, he made the first of many suicide attempts by drinking chemicals from a chemistry set.

Homelife did prove to be very difficult for Charles as his dad perished when he was only 7 months ans ten years later his mother was killed in a car accident; Charles was in his senior year of highschool at the time. Her death outraged him, not just that she was gone; but no one at the hospital informed her that she was dead and they cremated her remains instead of returning her body to her loved ones.

Despite all the devastation around him, Charles Cullen graduated from West Orange High School and immediately enlisted in the United States Navy. He served on the submarine USS Woodrow Wilson. He successfully passed basic training and the psychological examinations required for submarine crews (this meant he was mentally fit to spend as long as 2 months submerged in such a small space at a time). 

Charles Cullen quickly proved himself and rose in rank to petty officer second class as part of the team that operated the vessel's Poseidon missiles. Unfortunately,he really didn't fit in with the Navy, (quickly reminding him of being back in highschool, being bullied and hazed). He was a year into his service , when she started showing signs of insubordination. He would sit at the mission control center wearing medical gloves, scrubs and a surgical mask; flat out refusing to wear his Naval uniform.

Cullen received disciplinary actions for his actions but he never gave a reason for what he did. He was demoted in postion and forced to work on the supply ship USS Canopus. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for the Navy, Charles Cullen tried many more times to commit suicide over the course of the next few years; giving the US Navy no choice but to give him a medical discharge in 1984; the true reasons remained sealed to the public.

I am going to make things a bit confusing right now as I need to jump ahead in order for things to make sense...

In 1987, Charles Cullen married Adrianne Baum; a year later their first child, a girl, was born. Her name was Shauna. Their second daughter, Saskia was born in 2000. It seemed that Adienne was becoming very concerned with the way her husband was acting; even to the point that he was abusing their dogs. It appeared Adrienne Cullen (nee Tab) had enough, and was so scaredthat she filed a restraining order on him; terrified that he would harm their two little girls. 

In 1993, she filed a restraining order against him based on her fear that he might endanger her and their two children. She claimed that Cullen had spiked people's drinks with lighter fluid, burned his daughter's books, and left his daughters with a babysitter for a week. Cullen denied these claims, saying that his wife was exaggerating. Nevertheless, she continued to insist that Cullen was mentally ill.

To be continued...