"I Was Led to Believe My Mum Died of a Chest Infection, But a Killer Nurse Confessed to Her Murder, Claiming ‘There’s a Devil in Me’"

WHEN 44-year-old Tracey Arden was admitted into hospital on 6 July, 2011, with a chest infection, her family were not unduly concerned.

For all their lives, her daughters, Kathryn and Lauren, had grown up with her being in a care home, after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 32 and they were used to her being in and out of hospital with chest infections.

Relatives were told Tracey Arden died from a chest infection in Stepping Hill hospitalCredit: PA Victorino Chau was later convicted of her murderCredit: PA:Press Association

“It was a regular thing. She would go in and come back out,” says Kathryn.

But this time she would not come back. And it wasn’t due to her illness. Tracey fell prey to a serial killer nurse, who instead of helping his frail patients, was deliberating poisoning them.

He went on to kill two more and seriously harm 21 others before the massive investigation by Police identified him and brought him to justice four years later.

After he was released on bail following his initial arrest, while police built their case against him, he was a free man, suspended from his job but carrying on with his life in a normal fashion. Incredibly, Kathryn and Lauren even bumped into him working out at their local gym.

“Of all the places, you don’t expect someone on bail, who has been arrested for doing such awful things, to be in the gym,” says Kathryn. “When he confirmed who he was, I ran out, in tears.”

Kathryn and Lauren recall their trauma in the 5 documentary, Killer On The Run: The Killer Nurse Victorino Chua.

“My earliest memories are of mum already being in a nursing home,” says Kathryn. “She wasn’t able to walk or talk and she was fed through a tube into her stomach but she loved listening to music and would laugh at things, if you said something funny. The main thing I remember about her is that she was always smiling.”

The day after Tracey went into Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, she was visited by her parents who were pleased to find her in good spirits and hear from staff that she would be discharged soon.

“I’m not sure they even reached home before they got a call saying she had taken a turn for the worse and to go back to the hospital,” says Kathryn.

Shortly after, she died.

The Manchester Hospital where all three victims diedCredit: EPA Chau was discovered to have been on the wards where the deaths occurredCredit: Kelvin Media

“My stepmother told me that mum had passed away and said that she had struggled with multiple sclerosis for so long and she just couldn’t do it anymore,” says Kathryn.

“But I remember thinking, ‘No. She can’t just die like that.’”

Fortnight of fear

Disturbingly, between Monday 27 June and Monday 11 July 2011, 20 patients at the hospital suffered from unexplained medical emergencies. Eleven were on Ward A3, where Tracey had been admitted, and nine on Ward A1, resulting in the death of 71-year-old Arnold Lancaster.

On 12 July, Greater Manchester Police began an investigation, headed by Sir Peter Fahy, who was then the Chief Constable.

“The hospital tried to examine what those particular patients had received and identified a number of containers of saline liquid which they believed to have been contaminated,” says Peter.

“They were sent off for forensic analysis. It was extremely urgent. Stepping Hill is a very large hospital with lots of patients and visitors.

“It was an enormous challenge for us. What do we do? Do we just shut down the hospital and move everybody out?

“But that wouldn’t necessarily remove the harm if the person responsible moved with other staff to another place. It very quickly became obvious that that was impractical, anyway, as there weren’t any other facilities that could accommodate so many patients.”

Three days after the first two confirmed deaths, the police issued a press release saying they were investigating the tampering of saline solutions at Stepping Hill Hospital. It became headline news.

“We couldn’t have a funeral for mum because of the ongoing investigation,” says Lauren. “We had to postpone it. It was awful.”

“It was found that insulin had been added to containers of saline used in drip bags,” says Peter. “It had the effect of causing blood sugar levels to plummet to dangerous levels.

“It came down to identifying who could have had the opportunity around a set number of patients within a time frame. And a particular nurse came to notice.”

Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, and Alfred Derek Weaver, 83, all died in the hospitalCredit: PA:Press Association

Wrongful arrest

On 20 July, a female nurse was arrested and charged with endangering lives.

“I was relieved when she was arrested,” says Lauren. “I thought that would be the end of it and we would be able to let my mum rest then.”

During this time, a third patient mysteriously died – 83-year-old Derek Weaver. Charges against the nurse were dropped after analysis of fingerprints and showed that there was nothing to link her with any of the poisonings.

After almost six months of detective work, a credible new suspect cropped up – Victorino Chua, a nurse on wards A1 and A3, who had the opportunity to tamper with the drips within the time frame.

Chau was arrested after concerns were raised about his behaviourCredit: PA:Press Association

Nazir Afzal, who was the Chief Crown Prosecutor at the time, says, “There had been concerns about his behaviour and attitude.

“In the beginning of January 2012, Chua was seen on CCTV having an argument with a patient which related to the treatment she was receiving but he was very upset and angry and, as a result of that, he tampered with her medical notes to suggest that she needed certain treatment that she didn’t need. It included insulin.”

Chua, a Filipino nurse, was arrested but was unhelpful during his police interview, answering “no comment” to everything.

“A search of his house revealed a he had written to himself with lines such as, “They think I’m a nice person but there’s a devil in me,” and “I go straight to hell.”

But police had to release him on bail while they built their case against him. It involved detectives flying to the Philippines to try to understand his background and a possible motive for the murders.

Gym shock

They discovered that he was one of six children from a pretty well to do family and that life was good until his parents split up. He was pushed into nursing by surrounding family members. It wasn’t something he was particularly drawn to but it was a well-paid job.

He came to the UK in 2002 and predominantly worked in care homes for the next seven years.

In one care home he hurt his back while lifting a patient and tried to sue his employer. It wasn’t a success and he became resentful and bitter about that.

After he started working at Stepping Hill hospital in 2009, resentment over the way he was treated, his lack of promotion, as well as his lack of interest, became a toxic brew.

Chau referred to the ‘Devil in me’ in chilling letterCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd He added that he was going ‘straight to Hell’Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

“While he was on bail, me and my sister were at the gym one day and spotted someone who looked just like him,” says Kathryn. “Lauren said, ‘Kathryn, that’s the guy who killed mum, over there.’ I said, ‘Shut up, he’s not going to be in the gym.’

“So, me being 16 years old, thinking I can take over the world, said, ‘Alright, I’ll go and ask him then.’ I went over and said, ‘Hi, what’s your name?’ and he replied, ‘Why?’ and I said, ‘You just look familiar.’ When he asked, ‘From where?’ I said, ‘You look like someone from a nursing home.’ And then he said, ‘My name’s Vic.’ I said, ‘Victorino Chua?’ and he said, ‘Yeah’ and I kind of froze because I wasn’t expecting it to be him.

“Then I ran out, crying. Lauren came after me and I said, ‘It’s actually him.’ We rang the police to let them know and they said not to go to the gym because if he finds out who we are it could jeopardise the case.”

‘Indescribably wicked’

Chua remained on bail for a further two years until in March 2014 – almost three years since the investigation began – he was re-arrested and charged with three murders and offences relating to the poisoning of 21 others. He pleaded not guilty.

At his trial in 2015, Kathryn recalls his complete lack of emotion and remorse.

“I remember him coming in and he had no expression on his face,” she says. “When it was the part about my mum, they were explaining how she died and he didn’t seem upset or angry. He was looking around the room like there was no effect on him whatsoever.”

Chau was found guilty of the murders of Tracey Arden and Derek Weaver but not for 71-year-old Arnold Lancaster, who had terminal cancer. The prosecution was unable to satisfy the jury that he would not have died when he did, anyway. But Chau was convicted of poisoning him in an act the judge described as “indescribably wicked”.

In all, he was convicted of two murders and 21 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent by poisoning. He received a life sentence with a minimum of 35 years.

A motive for the murders has never been fully understood. In the majority of cases, his victims were chosen by fate, after they had been connected to drips fed by saline bags that he had previously tampered with while they were in storage. It was by this method that he murdered Tracey Arden and Alfred Weaver. Some others were seriously harmed by him altering prescription charts.

“I was relieved by the decision but it hurt. I was so upset,” says Lauren, “I’ve questioned his motives over and over again. Why did it happen? Even though mum was ill. She still had a life.”

Killer On The Run: The Killer Nurse Victorino Chua, can be seen on 5 this Thursday