Elizabeth Tracy Mae "Bethe" Wettlaufer was born on June 10, 1967, in Zorra Township, Ontario. Her childhood was spent in a small rural community near Woodstock. Elizabeth grew up in a strictly Baptist household, which influenced her upbringing and values.

After completing high school at Huron Park Secondary School in the mid-1980s, Elizabeth pursued further education. She attended London Baptist Bible College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in religious education counseling. Later, she moved on to Conestoga College to study nursing.

Upon graduating from nursing school, Wettlaufer began her career as a nurse. In 2007, she was hired at Caressant Care, a long-term care home in Woodstock. At first, her co-workers viewed her as a caring and professional nurse. However, during her time there, Elizabeth faced personal challenges, including struggles with substance abuse and alcoholism. She had several incidents related to her work performance, which included being suspended for medication-related errors.

Despite her struggles, Elizabeth continued to work in various care homes. Throughout her career, she faced numerous challenges, including being fired for stealing medication and for making dangerous medication errors. She also shared with a neighbor about her difficulties and her actions in her profession.

While working as a nurse at Caressant Care, Elizabeth Wettlaufer began to harm the patients she was supposed to care for. Her first assaults occurred between June 25 and December 31, 2007. Wettlaufer confessed to injecting two elderly sisters, Clotilde Adriano and Albina Demedeiros, with insulin. Although they later passed away, their deaths were not linked to her actions at that time. She was charged with aggravated assault for these cases.

The first murder where she injected a patient with a lethal dose of insulin happened on August 11, 2007. This patient was James Silcox, an 84-year-old World War II veteran. Over the next several years, she continued to kill more patients at Caressant Care, including Maurice Granat, Gladys Millard, Helen Matheson, Mary Zurawinski, Helen Young, and Maureen Pickering. Wettlaufer also injected two patients, Michael Priddle and Wayne Hedges, with the intention to murder them, resulting in charges of attempted murder in those cases.

After leaving Caressant Care in 2014, Wettlaufer worked part-time at other care facilities and also injected patients in their homes. She murdered Arpad Horvath at a care center in London, Ontario. Additionally, she attempted to murder Sandra Towler at a retirement home and Beverly Bertram at a private residence.

On September 16, 2016, Wettlaufer entered a drug rehabilitation program. It was during her stay that she confessed to staff about her actions. This led to the College of Nurses of Ontario and the Toronto Police becoming involved. She emailed the college to resign and admitted to deliberately harming patients. Following a two-hour confession to police, she faced charges for eight murders, four counts of attempted murder, and two counts of aggravated assault.

On June 1, 2017, Wettlaufer waived her right to a preliminary hearing and confessed to all charges. On June 26, she was sentenced to eight life terms in prison, with no possibility of parole for 25 years. During her confession, she stated that she understood right from wrong but felt compelled by uncontrollable urges. She expressed feeling horrible after each murder but noted that she never found enjoyment in her actions.

Wettlaufer was initially held in Kitchener, Ontario, but was later transferred to a secure facility in Montreal for medical treatment. Following her conviction, the Ontario government announced a public inquiry into her case to address the failures in the healthcare system that allowed her to continue working as a nurse for years while committing these crimes.