A former physician at Hawkesbury and District General Hospital (HGH) has been acquitted on four charges of First-Degree Murder and four counts of Criminal Negligence Causing Death in connection with the deaths of four patients at HGH in 2021.
The CBC reported just before 11 am on Tuesday, July 2 that Brian Nadler had been acquitted in an Ottawa court.
Nadler, 38, was initially charged with First-Degree murder in March 2021 in connection with the death of 89-year-old HGH patient Albert Poidinger. Police later laid three additional charges of First-Degree murder connected to the deaths of 80-year-old Claire Brière, 79-year-old Lorraine Lalande and 93-year-old Judith Lungulescu. Each had also been patients at HGH.
According to the CBC, the pre-trial judge had decided to make certain evidence inadmissible, which made the crown unable to further prosecute the case.
It took both the crown and defence more than three years to prepare for Nadler’s trial. Preliminary proceedings were conducted through the courthouse in L’Orignal, but the trial itself was eventually moved to Ottawa.
At the time of the first arrest, Nadler’s address was in the Montréal suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux. His licence to practice medicine in the Province of Ontario was suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons in March, 2021.
