Self-Justification Of Cullen's Killing

His traumatic experiences caused Cullen's self-justification of his murders. To illustrate, the interviewer asked Cullen to offer an explanation for the victim’s families as to why he killed. Charles Cullen stated that the murders were not personal. “It was more or less I felt I needed to do something and I did…” (60 minutes, 8:37). In addition, Cullen also believed that he was helping his patients escape from pain. “I thought people weren’t suffering anymore so in a sense I thought I was helping” (6:58). As stated in 60 minutes, Cullen suggested several times that his actions were merciful but evidence doesn’t support it (7:31). For example, Cullen didn’t only target the 90-year-old patients or patients suffering from terminal cancer. “Cullen’s victims range from 21 to 91. Some were …show more content…
There is also no particular pattern to Cullen’s kills. He doesn’t discriminate against gender or age, so everyone that’s patient in the hospital is fair game, regardless of whether they’re terminally ill or not (Jennifer Hash, 2006, p.1). According to Charles Graeber, Cullen’s actions were entirely selfish. “It was never about anything but Charlie Cullen. He did what he did because of his own needs, his own compulsions” (10:22). For example, Charles Cullen justified ruining families because of his self-pity. “He sees himself as a victim and as a victim he’s entitled to lash out in any way he wants to make things right. Even if that means killing patients…anything justifies his victimhood” (10:53). Cullen saw himself as a powerless victim, so the solution was to regain control of his life. According to Graeber, murder for Charles Cullen was about power and control. “If the rest of his life was spinning out of control if he was losing custody, if he was depressed, his love life is in the toilet; he could poison patients. He could save