Lucy Letby denied killing defenceless babies despite cops finding note where she scribbled ‘I’m evil – I did this’
ANGEL of Death Lucy Letby denied killing babies on an NHS neonatal ward — despite cops finding a Post-it note in her house on which she scribbled: “I AM EVIL I DID THIS.”
The self-obsessed loner showed little emotion during her ten-month trial.
She portrayed herself as the innocent victim of a plot by doctors to frame her for an increase in baby fatalities at Cheshire’s Countess of Chester hospital.
But police called in to investigate in 2017 discovered a key piece of evidence at her £180,000 semi- detached home in the Chester suburb of Blacon when they arrested her for the first time.
They found the note on which Letby had scrawled her thoughts in tiny handwriting in black ink.
One jotting said: “I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them.
“I hate myself. There are no words. I am an awful person. I pay every day for that.”
Others read: “I panic I’ll never have children. I don’t deserve mum and dad. The world is better off without me. I did this, why me.”
A note found in a black bin bag in her garage read: “No one will ever know what happened and why . . . I’m a failure.”
Letby had also written: “I am a problem to those who do know me . . . it would be much better for everyone if I just went away. I just want to be happy.”
Police filmed the moment they called at Letby’s home at 6am on July 3, 2018, and arrested her.
The university graduate looked stunned as she answered the door in a blue Lee Cooper hoodie and allowed officers in.
A short time later the bodycam footage showed her breathing rapidly as she was led handcuffed to a nearby unmarked police car.
When an officer explains they will move the passenger seat forward to give her more room, Letby calmly responds: “I’ve just had knee surgery.”
It was reported yesterday that her mother Susan, 63, was distraught when her daughter was arrested and was wailing and crying.
In a desperate bid to protect Letby, she even said to police: “I did it, take me instead.”
Accounts clerk Susan and retail boss husband John, 77, raised Letby as an only child in a 1930s semi-detached home in a cul-de-sac.
They still live in the same house — which they bought shortly after their marriage.
They holiday in Torquay three times a year, and had taken Letby with them up until her arrest.
Cheshire Police also released dramatic footage of Letby’s first interview where she was asked directly about whether she was responsible for soaring death rates at the hospital’s neonatal unit.
Letby, 33, claimed she had “concerns” over the grim spike, which saw seven babies die, but did not admit any responsibility.
She told officers: “They told me there had been a lot more deaths and I’d been linked as someone who had been there for a lot of them.”
When asked if the rise in death rates led to any concerns, she replied: “Yes.”
The nurse added: “I think we’d all just noticed as a team in general, the nursing staff, that this was a rise compared to previous years.”
Police who unpicked her web of lies told how Letby co-operated with them to an extent, but never gave an indication why she targeted her tiny victims.
Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, who oversaw the officers who interviewed Letby, described her personality as “beige” — adding there was little “outstanding or outrageous” about her.
“During the trial, I think she has been described as being calculated”, adding Letby had shown a “lack of emotion” throughout.
Police also found paperwork relating to many of the children she murdered, plus the name of a married registrar she was accused of flirting with, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
One said: “Please help me, please help me (doctor’s name). I trusted you with everything. (Doctor’s name) I loved you.” During Letby’s trial, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC highlighted the Post-it note, which was shown to the jury.
He said: “She wrote, ‘I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough,’ ‘I am a horrible evil person,’ and in capital letters, ‘I AM EVIL I DID THIS’.”
He added: “Ladies and gentlemen, that in a nutshell is your task in this case.
“Whether or not she did these dreadful things is the decision you will have to make.”
Letby timeline
JANUARY 4, 1990: Lucy Letby is born in Hereford.
AUGUST 2008: Letby enrols in the University of Chester.
2010: Letby starts work at Countess of Chester hospital during her nursing degree.
SEPTEMBER 2011: Gets a BSc Hons in child nursing.
2012: Letby starts full-time on the neonatal ward.
JUNE 8, 2015: Letby kills her first victim, Baby A.
JUNE 2015-JUNE 2016: Letby murders seven babies and attempts to kill six.
JUNE 30, 2016: Letby works her last nursing shift on unit.
MAY 2017: Hospital chief writes a letter to Cheshire Police about baby deaths, which launches an investigation with days.
JULY 3, 2018: Letby arrested, later to get bail.
JUNE 10, 2019: Letby is rearrested at parents’ home.
OCTOBER 4, 2022: Letby’s trial starts at Manchester crown court.
AUGUST 18, 2023: Letby found guilty of seven murders and six attempted murders, cleared of two attempted murder charges.
Hung jury on six attempted murder charges.