Donald Harvey was a landmark case example of a troubled childhood manifesting into a person in a position of authority and opportunity with a plethora of victims he could choose from. He was sexually abused by his uncle and neighbor at the young age of only four years old, which occurred for more than sixteen years. Now add in the fact that his parents had an abusive relationship, paired with his torture of animals, some head injuries, and dozens of opportunities and you have yourself an angel of death. An angel of death is classified as an employed individual (typically as a caregiver) who exploits this position to purposefully harm or kill people they agreed to protect. Harvey’s rampage began when he first began working at Marymount Hospital, and eventually led to dozens of murders. Harvey had confessed to killing 87 people, while he was convicted of killing 36 and one manslaughter. Months after Harvey’s spree began, Harvey entered a relationship that enticed him into joining a satanic cult. This action led to him later conceiving a child due to him enacting the initiation of the cult. He was also found to have joined the Nationalist Socialist Party, but claimed he wasn’t there as a supporter but to simply sabotage them. Ultimately, his wrath lasted approximately seventeen years before he was criminally investigated. He later confessed to killing his patients. He is still serving several hundreds of years of sentences in Warren County Correctional Facility.
Keywords: National Socialist Party, Angel of Death
Family Background
Donald Harvey was born in Booneville Kentucky on April 15th, 1952. He was the first of three children. He was raised by his parents, however his grandmother and neighbors played supporting roles in raising him as well. His father was a traditionally hard worker. At first he was a tobacco farmer, then a factory worker, lastly being employed as a door-fitter for Mosler Safe Company. His mother worked as a homemaker. His parents separated when Harvey was young, but reconciled later on. His family was in a stable economic situation, and Harvey was able to attend school as he pleased. He was highly intelligent, and found school to be boring so he didn’t attend after grade nine. It is noted by Charles Montaldo that “he found school to be boring so he dropped out.”
He later earned his GED and graduated early. It is unclear whether or not his family was religious, but Harvey later on joined a religion of his preference, Satanism. Since his parents lived in the 1930’s and 1940’s, there is very limited material on his youth, such as his hobbies and childhood friends. Harvey left school during his freshman year of high school to accelerate his graduation, so it Is simple that he had little interests for pastimes such as sports or spending time with classmates. His mother and father have no record of any crime at all, unlike their child. Harvey has multiple run-ins with the law. His first account was his involvement in an arson charge, in which he paid a fifty dollar fine. Harvey was also arrested for suspicion of burglary in his apartment building, which was not the actual reason for his arrest. Police had intended to arrest him to later question him about the cult he was a part of. If only the authorities knew who they were dealing with when he was taken in for arson.
Markers of Trouble
Although there it remains unknown if Harvey was a bed wetter, it is clear he endured terrible conditions as a child through sexual and mental abuse. His first nonconsensual sexual encounter occurred when he was only four years old. When Harvey visited his grandmother’s house, his Uncle Wayne (mother’s half sibling) would frequently sexually abuse him. This relationship went on for more than 16 years. He wasn’t just abused sexually; his father often verbally abused him by calling him feminine names. Since his other caregivers in his youth were his grandmother and neighbors, he was exposed to them often. When he visited his neighbor’s house he was also sexually abused by an older man named Dan Thomas, whom had a relationship with Harvey when he was merely five years old until he was twenty.
It is also noted in Harvey’s youth he enjoyed the mutilation of animals. When he was nine years old, he “hacked a chick in two with a hoe.” Harvey’s emotions subsequently effected his actions throughout his life. Harvey was a highly depressed man, whom had attempted suicide multiple times throughout his life. His arson charge was a direct result of his depression, which led him to set a fire in the bathroom of the apartment he lived in. The apartment was empty, but he was still charged with a fine. Equally important, Harvey was no pervert or rapist. He received pleasure from mercy killing, which states that the victim is already suffering and the belief they should be put out of their misery. Furthermore, it is identified that Harvey had a long list of romantic partners. His relationships were mostly sexual and rarely romantic. The only man that could be noted as a romantic partner was named Carl Hoeweler, and they moved in together in 1980. Their relationship lasted six years, and it is noted Harvey had killed Carl’s father for reasons unknown. He also accidentally killed Carl’s brother-in-law.
Turns to Violence
The Angel of Death’s retribution began only 29 days after he began working at Marymount Hospital. His first kill occurred on May 30th, 1970 in which he smothered an elderly man named Logan Evans with a piece of plastic and a pillow. He took a stethoscope and listened to Evans’ heartrate as he died. He even cleaned up the body, and dressed him into a clean gown. He alerted the nurse that was present. The trend for his original killings began with smothering and more violent cases of killing. Correspondingly, a large percent of his killings were either perpetrated by using faulty gas/oxygen tanks, and later after joining the satanic cult cyanide and arsenic poisons. Since he was a nursing assistant, he had multiple medicines and poisons at his disposal, varying from Demerol to Codeine.
Harvey is unique in the sense that he really didn’t have a cooling off period for his murders. The only time he stopped killing was when it wasn’t available to, such as transitioning from Marymount Hospital to Cardinal Hill Convalescent Hospital in 1972. He was also entangled in a relationship with Ken Estes, which halted the malice for about three years. Harvey’s killings were sporadic; they could range from horrific catheter kills on a patient to smothering someone on the basis of their scent. Summarized research collected by Radford University indicates that Harvey killed Viola Reed Wyan by attempting to smother her to death. He failed to kill her that way so he later obtained a faulty oxygen tank. She had been suffering from leukemia and electrolyte imbalance. His victims were primarily patients at hospitals in which he was employed to. Ultimately, Harvey is serving life sentences in county jail.