Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
ABC NEWS "20/20 FRIDAY" INVESTIGATES THE CLAIM OF A RESPIRATORY
THERAPIST THAT HE MURDERED DOZENS OF TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS, IN
REPORT AIRING APRIL 10
When 28-year-old respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar told police
he had murdered dozens of terminally ill patients as they lay
helpless in their beds, his shocking confession made headlines
around the world. Is this soft-spoken, shy California man an
``Angel of Death'' and among the most horrific serial killers in
recent history, or an innocent man who claimed responsibility for
the murders as a desperate plea for help? Correspondent Elizabeth
Vargas reports on ABC News ``20/20 Friday,'' FRIDAY, APRIL 10
(10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.
In an exclusive interview with Ms. Vargas, Saldivar recants the
March 11 confession which detailed the murders of forty to fifty
patients over a nine-year period. ``It's not as . . . it's not as
easy to kill a patient as it sounds,'' he says. ``Anytime a
patient is that sick, there's always more than one person in the
room. It's not easy to do that stuff.'' Saldivar says that he
confessed to the murders in order to end his own life.
``I wanted the system to do to me what I couldn't do to me. I was
looking to die, I wanted to die,'' he tells Ms. Vargas. ``. . .
before I tried . . . but I didn't have the courage . . . I
figured, you know, one death isn't gonna be enough for the death
penalty so I said two. There was two patients. And then I started
to cry because I was ending my life . . . I was ending everything
else, finally doing it.'' He also claims that he had taken Valium
before his police interrogation and that his statements were an
elaborate lie. ``I couldn't believe how I started to embellish,''
he tells Ms. Vargas.
``The detectives asked me for a motive. I couldn't think of one.
Then I thought of Jack Kevorkian. He has a lot of people who
follow him, who believe in him . . . and then I made the split
decision to go that route, right on the spot. To see them out of
their misery.'' A co-worker's statement that he saw drugs in
Saldivar's locker -- including a powerful paralyzing agent and
morphine -- was, according to Saldivar, part of ``. . . a plan to
get rid of me'' by a ``guy that hates me.''
Police, however, believe that Saldivar had plenty of opportunity
to kill and that his initial confession was truthful. As a
respiratory therapist at Glendale Adventist Medical Center as
well as several other hospitals and nursing homes in Los Angeles,
he cared for patients who were often comatose and in critical
condition.
``Anytime someone confesses, it's usually very self-serving,''
says Sgt. Rick Young of the Glendale police department, who says
that their investigation will link Saldivar to the murders. ``You
know, it may be just the tip of the iceberg. We could find
hundreds out there . . . At this point, we believe we have a
strong case.'' Although Saldivar expresses sympathy for the
families who believe their loved ones might have been his
victims, he says he never harmed anyone.
``All I can say is that I'm sorry and it didn't happen, it's not
true,'' he says. ``But if they died, they died 'cause it was
God's will, not because of me.''
--
Two rules in life:
1. Don't tell people everything you know.
2.
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