On the night that Christopher Peter Lambros was first reported to authorities, a colleague had gone into a patient’s room at the intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, and found the lights off and the curtain drawn, according to a probable cause affidavit.
“When she pulled back the curtain she saw the patient, who was unconscious, with her gown pulled up, exposing her breasts, and the bed sheet was pulled down, exposing the patient’s genitals,” the affidavit states. “[The witness] said she saw a nurse, who she knew as Chris Lambros, with his head on the patient’s stomach, with his face toward the patient’s feet, with what she believed [was] his right arm extended, holding what she was sure was an unknown make/model cell phone in a black case, in a position as if he was taking a ‘selfie’ picture.”
Lambros, 61, was arrested on Oct. 25 and charged with three counts of sexual assault involving penetration of a victim unable to consent, court documents show.
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When asked about the alleged selfie incident, police say Lambros denied taking any pictures and said he had “petty workplace issues” with the colleague who said she had caught him. Officers then seized his phone, but Lambros refused to give investigators the pin to unlock the device, authorities said.
After obtaining a search warrant, a digital forensic analysis of the phone found “photographs and videos of Lambros posing with a number of victims who were unconscious, in the hospital setting,” the affidavit said. “Lambros was photographing himself sucking on victims’ breasts and digitally penetrating victims,” the document states.
In one June video, Lambros can be heard whispering to the camera saying “Don’t ever get rid of these videos” and “You need to keep them forever… this is your Dexter collection,” the affidavit adds. The phrase could be a reference to the eponymous serial killer in the TV show Dexter, a fictional bloodstain expert who keeps blood slides from his victims as trophies.
The digital forensic analysis also found that 168 photos and videos had been deleted from the phone between April 30 and July 9, the latter date being the day that Lambros was reported for the alleged selfie incident.
“What this former nurse is accused of is reprehensible and goes against everything we believe and value at St. Mary’s Medical Center,” said Bryan Johnson, the hospital’s president, Law & Crime reports. “Patients put their trust in us and should feel safe in our care. We are working closely with law enforcement to protect our patients from those who intend to cause harm. We are doing everything possible to ensure our patients continue to feel safe and respected while receiving care at St. Mary’s Medical Center.”
