Nurse claims responsibility for death of Father Florian J. Gall, as many as 40 others
 

As family, friends and parishioners of Father Florian J. Gall witnessed his battle with heart disease last year, there was always the hope that he would enjoy a full recovery and return to his busy ministry as pastor to a flourishing Hunterdon County faith community.

And when word came of Father Gall’s death from heart failure June 28 in Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, those who loved him grieved over that lost hope, and prayed for the grace to accept his death.

But on Dec. 16, the family of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Whitehouse Station, was faced with news that was even more difficult to accept. It was then that Charles Cullen, a 43-year-old nurse and resident of Bethlehem, Pa., claimed responsibility for the death of Father Gall, and as many as 40 other hospital patients over nearly two decades.

The priest, who held the pastorate in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish for nearly 20 years, also had served as epsicopal vicar for Hunterdon County since his appointment by the now late Bishop Vincent De Paul Breen in 2001.

Cullen, who had been the target of a recent investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office due to abnormal lab results in connection with Father Gall’s case and that of another patient, was charged with murder and attempted murder in Superior Court, Somerville.

During the arraignment, Cullen addressed Judge Paul Armstrong, rescinding his application for a court-appointed attorney and indicating that he will plead guilty. "I don’t plan to fight this," Cullen said.

The suspect had told investigators that he is responsible for as many as 40 deaths that occurred during his 16-year nursing career conducted in 10 different hospitals in the region. Among them is one Catholic hospital –- Sacred Heart Hospital, Allentown, Pa. In addition to Somerset Medical Center, where Cullen worked from September, 2002 to October, 2003, Cullen was employed in two other secular hospitals in the diocese -– Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg and Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington.

Cullen said that he improperly administered drugs to the patients who died because they were suffering.

Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski, in a statement released Dec. 17, said: "The Diocese of Metuchen is deeply distressed over the news that the death of Father Florian Gall was attributable to a deliberate overdose of digoxin.

"Father Gall ministered to the parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes for 19 years. His life was one of service and devotion and his death was a tremendous loss not only to his parish, but also to the entire diocese. At the time of his death, Father Gall was episcopal vicar of Hunterdon County. He was well-known and highly regarded on the diocesan level as well as nationally for his work with liturgy and music," the bishop continued.

Bishop Bootkoski also offered prayers for the Gall family and Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners, and asked God to forgive Cullen. The bishop said, "We pray that even now Father Gall enjoys the fullness of eternal life and love; and that during this very upsetting time, the Gall family and the parish family of Our Lady of Lourdes may feel God’s loving peace. As Father Gall would have done, we also pray that God grant forgiveness to the individual who caused his death."

Cullen, a native of West Orange, was working on the critical care unit of Somerset Medical Center during Father Gall’s hospitalization in June. While he was not directly assigned to Father Gall’s care, or that of another patient involved in the case, Cullen likely had access to their rooms, according to Somerset county Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest. His office reported that lab tests revealed potentially lethal doses of the heart medication digoxin in both patients because of an "unauthorized external administration of the drug, probably either by injection or drip-bag."

Forrest, who speculated that the Cullen case may be the largest homicide investigation in New Jersey history, noted that his office is also looking into the records of four other Somerset Medical Center patients who died after suffering critically low blood sugar levels, possibly attributable to "the external administration of insulin."

Questions have been as to how Cullen, who was the subject of an investigation in his last position at St. Luke’s Hospital, could have been hired by another hospital. Dottie Dargis, a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes, commented, "What kind of monster would do this to anyone, and what kind of inept, incompetent employer would knowingly jeopardize people’s lives by hiring such a person?"

She continued, "The same could be asked of the hospitals that knew there was a problem with this nurse but did nothing to warn others."

Dargis added, "Father Gall had much left to give to his family, his friends, his parishioners and his bishop."

According to long-time friend, Father William Mickiewicz, pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in nearby Califon, Father Gall had undergone open heart surgery in March and had been back to the hospital several times after that due to "water on the lung." He had been improving, and was expected to return to his regular duties when he came down with a pneumonia in June and had to be hospitalized.

"I was away in Bosnia at the time," Father Mickiewicz stated, "but I had been informed by his sister Lucille that he was stabilized. The next thing we learn is that he suffered heart failure."

Referring to the emotional work that now faces Father Gall’s loved ones, Father Mickiewicz stated, "It was one thing to deal with his death as a result of illness. This is a whole different set of circumstances we must now deal with – someone took his life. It’s like he’s died all over again and we must again begin the mourning process."

Father Leonard F. Rusay, now pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, told The Catholic Spirit that not only does the parish family now have to get over the news that their pastor had been murdered, but they also must cope with a barrage of media camping out at the church and accosting them on their way into Mass or other parish gatherings.

"We are in the height of preparing to celebrate the birth of our Savior and we have to have television cameras filming us and microphones stuck in our faces."

But the spirit of the parish family remains strong, he said. "We are trying to be a people of hope, trying to live the forgiveness the bishop has asked for and to keep praying for the healing of hearts, minds and souls for all who are touched by this tragedy."