The Angel of Death

The Life and Crimes of Donald Harvey

By: Mark Stokes

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Donald Harvey seemed, on the surface, to be a devoted hospital orderly, a caretaker trusted by patients and colleagues alike. But behind that veneer was a chilling paradox: for years, he quietly killed those under his watch. Working in hospitals across Kentucky and Ohio from the early 1970s through the 1980s, Harvey confessed to murdering dozens of patients—some suffering, some seemingly healthy—earning the notorious moniker “The Angel of Death.”

The Angel of Death reconstructs Harvey’s dual life and chilling descent into serial murder. Drawing from a range of sources, the narrative unravels how Harvey used poisoning, suffocation, tampering with medical devices, and other covert means to end life with seeming plausibility. It traces how his crimes went unnoticed for years, exploiting institutional trust and the vulnerability of hospital patients. The turning point came when a pathologist detected cyanide during an autopsy—a spark that ignited a deeper inquiry into deaths once dismissed as natural.

But this book is more than an account of death—it’s a moral excavation. It probes the deceptive line between mercy and malice, revealing how a man could cloak monstrous impulses in the guise of compassion. The Angel of Death honors the many victims whose stories were lost in hospital records, exposes institutional blind spots that enabled his spree, and challenges readers to reckon with how easily evil can hide behind uniforms, routines, and caring hands. Riveting, sobering, and painstakingly researched, this is a story that demands we remember—and never take the ordinary for granted.