Ex-Hospital Worker in Missouri Charged With Patient’s Death 20 Years Later

An ex-hospital worker in Missouri has been charged with the murder of a patient who died 20 years ago while under her care.

Jennifer Anne Hall, 41, allegedly used a deadly dose of a muscle relaxant and morphine to kill 75-year-old Fern Franco at Hedrick Medical Center in 2002, Livingston County Prosecutor Adam Warren announced.

She worked as a respiratory therapist at the medical center for five months and during that short time, the rural Missouri hospital saw the number of patients suffering sudden cardiac arrests soar, the New York Post reported.

The hospital had 18 “code blue” incidents of sudden cardiac arrests while Hall was employed, compared to an average of one per year, an investigator said.

Franco was among the “code blue” patients a died in her hospital bed. Eight others, including patients as young as 49 and 37, also died and nine survived.

Franco was hospitalized for pneumonia at the time and suffered a “ghastly death from suffocation” while she was fully conscious.

“Hall’s victim was a sick, defenseless, elderly woman who was depending on Hall to care for physical ailment within a medical facility,” Chillicothe Officer Brian Schmidt wrote.

Hospital officials at the time were aware of the concerns that Hall may be involved in the surge of sudden cardiac arrests, but “did everything in the world to cover it up” to avoid bad publicity, county coroner Scott Lindley said.

But that is not why she was let go, the hospital fired Hall after administrators learned of a prior arson conviction. She was found guilty of starting a fire at another small hospital where she previously worked But was acquitted of the crime at a retrial in 2005.

Criminal investigations into the patient deaths didn’t start until two years after Warren was elected prosecutor in 2010.

Relatives of five of the patients who died filed a lawsuit themselves in 2010 for wrongful death against the hospital and its new parent company, St. Luke’s Health System. However, the Missouri Supreme Court decided that it was filed after the statute of limitations was up and threw out the suit in 2019.

Franco’s 44-year-old granddaughter, Aprille Franco, said she hopes her grandmother’s case will help to bring closure to the other families who lost loved ones.

“Just for the other families’ sake,” Franco of Kansas City, Missouri, said. “They’ve been waiting 20 years for answers. It’s up to my grandma’s case to find answers for them.”

Hall pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder Thursday and has been jailed without bond.