'Angel of Death' serial killer badly beaten in Ohio prison

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a serial killer who admitted killing three dozen hospital patients in Ohio and Kentucky during the 1970s and '80s has been badly beaten inside his prison cell.

A spokeswoman for Ohio's prison system says 64-year-old Donald Harvey was hospitalized after being found Tuesday at the state's prison in Toledo.

The State Highway Patrol says Harvey was in critical condition Wednesday.

Harvey became known as the "Angel of Death" after pleading guilty in 1987 to 37 murders.

He had worked as a nurse's aide at hospitals in Cincinnati and London, Kentucky, and claimed he was trying to end his patients' suffering.

He agreed to a plea deal that allowed him to avoid the death penalty and is serving multiple life sentences.