Before killer nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven infants at the UK hospital she worked at, she offered her colleague "tips" on how to get away with murder, disturbing messages reveal.
In a March 2017 WhatsApp exchange with union representative Hayley Griffiths, the pair chatted about TV series How to Get Away with Murder.
"I'm currently watching a programme called how to get away with murder, I'm learning some good tips," Griffiths wrote to Letby, a year before the nurse's first arrest, according to messages published by the Thirlwall Inquiry and reviewed by the Lawyer Herald.
"I could have given you some tips," Letby responded.
"I need someone to practice on to see if I can get away with it," Griffiths continued.
"I can think of two people you could practice on and we'll help you cover it up," said Letby.
Earlier this week, Griffiths testified she was "so remorseful" for the conversation.
"As soon as I saw them myself I was upset and I can't begin to imagine... I can only apologize and say I have learned. I can't go back in time but I have reflected absolutely on it," she said, according to Sky News.
"It was nothing more than a conversation. However, I truly and deeply regret having started that conservation... this is completely unprofessional, poor judgment on my behalf and completely insensitive. And for that, I can only apologize from the bottom of my heart."
In August 2023, Letby, now 34, was convicted of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder in connection with the deaths of premature babies left in her care in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in England between 2015 and 2016, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Cheshire Police first began their investigation in 2017 in response to the deaths, and Letby was subsequently charged in 2020.
She pleaded not guilty.
During the trial, prosecutors said Letby murdered and attempted to murder babies by injecting air or insulin into their bloodstream or gastrointestinal tract, overfeeding them milk or fluids, or by inflicting "impact-type trauma," according to CPS.
"She perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death. Time and again, she harmed babies, in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families. Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her," prosecutor Pascale Jones previously said in a statement following Letby's conviction.
Letby was sentenced to life in prison.
