FARMINGTON—Medical examiners Wednesday testified they could not pinpoint why four of five elderly patients died at the Davis Hospital and Medical Center's geriatric-psychiatric unit.

Prosecutors contend all five were killed when Robert Allen Weitzel, the psychiatrist charged with their care, ordered nurses to inject them with lethal doses of morphine.

But Weitzel says he provided comfort care to the dying patients, in compliance with medical directives and family wishes.

The patients — Judith Larsen, 93; Ennis Alldredge, 85; Ellen Anderson, 91; Mary Crane, 72; and Lydia Smith, 90 — died within a 16-day period in December 1995 and January 1996. All had been admitted to the unit after exhibiting combative or disruptive behavior at other care facilities.

Medical examiners Todd Grey and Maureen Frikke testified in 2nd District Court Wednesday all the patients' death certificates had been amended from Weitzel's original findings. Four were changed to indicate an undetermined cause and manner of death. The fifth was amended to reflect Grey's opinion that Judith Larsen died as a result of homicide by morphine intoxication.

Grey, the state's chief medical examiner, testified traces of morphine were detected in Larsen's liver and bile. That result, combined with medical records indicating she had received large amounts of morphine, led Grey to conclude she did not die of natural causes, suicide or by accident.

"I could not see anything pathologically to explain her sudden death," he said. Though he could not with medical certainty rule out other possible causes of death, Grey said "I determined that morphine intoxication was the most likely cause of this person's death."

The day before her death, Larsen was ordered to receive round-the-clock morphine injections. Medical records indicate on Jan. 2, she received over 100 milligrams of morphine.

Grey conceded under cross-examination by defense attorney Peter Stirba that he could not rule out the possibility each of the patients suffered medical conditions that could have caused or contributed to their deaths.

He and Frikke testified their autopsy findings were compromised because each of the bodies had been embalmed and interned, and had varying degrees of decomposition. The bodies were exhumed over a 12-month period, culminating with the exhumations of Anderson and Lydia Smith in May.

But, Grey and Frikke also stated many of Stirba's alternative causes of death were not consistent with the patients' medical records and their own autopsy findings.

Nor were they overly concerned only one of the five bodies tested positive for morphine.

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"I was not convinced that a negative test result after embalming and an internment for this period of time is an accurate reflection of what was (there) at the time of death," Grey said, when asked about Ennis Alldredge's negative test result.

Frikke elaborated, stating the embalming process necessitates removing blood and fluids from the bodies, which are the elements generally used in drug identification tests. The embalming fluids are also added to body to preserve its tissues in a "leatherlike" state, she said. Those chemicals bind to the tissues, making it difficult to extract or detect the presence of drugs.

The prosecution is expected to conclude its presentation this week. Stirba said the defense's case is not likely to exceed two weeks.


E-MAIL: jnii@desnews.com

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