A generous injection of morphine will lull its recipient into a state of heavy sedation. His breathing will slow and eventually, if the dosage is large enough, stop.
In a Farmington courtroom Wednesday, Davis County prosecutors began to lay out their case against Dr. Robert A. Weitzel, a psychiatrist who they believe ordered administration of lethal doses of morphine that killed five elderly people between Dec. 30, 1995, and Jan. 14, 1996.
Weitzel, who has practiced in California, Utah and his native Texas, is charged with five counts of murder in the deaths of Ellen Anderson, 91; Judith V. Larsen, 93; Mary R. Crane, 72; Lydia M. Smith, 90; and Ennis Alldredge, 83; all of whom were patients at the Geriatric-Psychiatric Unit of the Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton. The preliminary hearing is scheduled to last three days.
Weitzel, 43, also faces 22 drug charges in federal court for allegedly ordering morphine and other pain medications for patients but then keeping them for himself. He is also under review by Utah's medical licensing board for allegations that he failed to keep accurate records of prescriptions for some 20 patients, including the five from Layton. Weitzel's Utah medical license was suspended in August.
Barbara Poelman's ailing mother, Ellen Anderson, was at the Layton facility a little more than a day before she died. Like most of the surviving family members of Weitzel's alleged victims, she did not suspect foul play at the time of her mother's death.
"The whole thing is disturbing," said Poelman, adding that she is jarred every time a television news program runs video footage of her mother's headstone as a backdrop to stories about the case. "The thing that angers me more than anything is that we put our mother in a hospital with the intention of being helped, and instead, I guess, she was overdosed."
If Poelman sounds unsure, Jean Kirkland isn't.
Kirkland, of Bay City, Texas, believes Weitzel and his colleague, Dr. Thomas Chick, are responsible for the Dec. 19, 1998, death of her mother, Laura Ware, at Matagorda County Hospital in Bay City. Weitzel was the medical director for the hospital's unit from February 1997 until his arrest on the Utah charges Sept. 21, 1999. Kirkland has retained an attorney and intends to file a lawsuit against Weitzel and the hospital.
"He definitely killed my mother," said Kirkland, whose mother was recovering from hip surgery at the hospital nursing home when she was moved to the psychiatric floor and into Weitzel's care. "He had her so drugged up. She never, never knew me or any of our family again. It was a total nightmare."
Kirkland and her siblings were so disturbed by their mother's death that they requested an autopsy. Medical examiners found morphine in Ware's body, although a morphine overdose was not officially ruled the cause of death. Ware died from an infection that developed after her surgery, Kirkland said.
Bay City police and the Texas Rangers are investigating the case, but Bay City Sgt. Andrew Lewis said last week they are "just scratching the surface" of the four-month investigation. No charges have been filed.
Texas State Board of Medical Examiners spokeswoman Jill Wiggens said she is not at liberty to say if Weitzel is being investigated because investigations are confidential. She did note, however, that Weitzel was fined $3,5,00 for failing to report to Texas officials that in 1997 he surrendered his California license to authorities after being accused of sexual misconduct with a woman who was a client.
In Utah a medical examiner's investigation of three of the five people Weitzel is accused of killing produced inconclusive results. Large amounts of morphine were found in the three bodies exhumed, but the actual causes of death could not be determined.
Weitzel's attorney, Peter Stirba, said the Texas investigation should have no bearing on his client's current troubles in Utah. He said the matter was investigated by Matagorda Hospital officials and dismissed, although Weitzel was fired one week after the Utah charges were filed.
"The unfortunate part about (reports of the Texas investigation) is that it might very well have an impact of Dr. Weitzel's ability to get a fair trial," Stirba said. "This is a very tough, sensitive case for everyone involved. We don't need to be dealing with these matters in the press."
But it is difficult to find many who will contradict damaging reports of the doctor.
Representatives at his Texas and California medical schools have declined comment to the Deseret News, saying they have been instructed not to talk about Weitzel. In Ogden and Salt Lake City, where Weitzel has practiced, the story is the same. Officials will confirm Weitzel's one-time association but then are quick to say he is no longer affiliated. He remains a member of the Utah Psychiatric Association, but an association spokesman said he has not been an "active member."
Few people contacted by the Deseret News seem to know him very well, although residents of the Holladay neighborhood where Weitzel maintains a home said he is a nice man.
Ed Anderson, who lives across the street, said the doctor is an acquaintance and that he had attended at least one party at Weitzel's home. They occasionally trade neighborly favors like picking up each other's mail. Weitzel has used his snowblower to clear Anderson's driveway after a heavy snow, he said.
"I know Robert informally. We're not close friends. I know he likes to ski and hike like I do," Anderson said. "My one comment would be that I think he's already been convicted already by the news media."
Matagorda County Hospital District administrator Wick Baker said Weitzel came to the hospital with excellent credentials.
"He seemed to have a good working relationship with medical staff," said Baker, who knew Weitzel only casually. "He was articulate, bright, personable."
Family members of Weitzel's alleged Utah victims who spoke with the Deseret News said they have never met the doctor. In fact, most said they don't believe Weitzel ever even met their loved ones, prescribing the medications over the telephone to staff at the Layton nursing home.