In what should have been a short hospital stay for bronchitis, 37-year-old David Wesley Harper found himself in the care of a respiratory therapist who would ultimately be responsible for his death. Harper, a male patient at Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, had been admitted on March 18, 2002. His condition had improved to the point where he was ready to be discharged, but he agreed to stay one more night to be fitted for a C-PAP mask.
It was a decision that proved fatal; he died the following day, March 21, 2002.
The respiratory therapist on duty, Jennifer Hall, became the primary suspect in Harper's death, as well as a string of other suspicious medical emergencies at the hospital. During Hall's six-month employment at Hedrick Medical Center, from December 2001 to May 2002, the hospital experienced an alarming spike in 'Code Blue' events, with 18 cardiac arrests and nine deaths among patients. Before her arrival, the hospital averaged only one such event per year. In the 25 minutes leading up to Harper's death, Hall failed to document two visits to his room. She later claimed to have been with him when he passed away. Hospital employees reported finding a vial of the muscle relaxant succinylcholine in her pocket, a drug she was not certified to administer. This drug, which was not prescribed to Harper, can cause paralysis of the diaphragm, leading to suffocation while the victim remains conscious.
For years, the case remained unresolved, though the families of several patients who died during that period filed wrongful-death claims against the hospital in 2010, accusing Hall of being a serial killer. However, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations for civil action had expired. The criminal investigation was reopened in 2012.
Decades after Harper's death, Jennifer Hall was arrested in May 2022 and charged with first-degree murder in the death of another patient, 75-year-old Fern Franco. In February 2023, she was also charged with the first-degree murder of David Wesley Harper. In a turn of events, Hall, then 42, accepted a plea deal in April 2023. She pleaded guilty to lesser charges of two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of Harper and Franco, and one count of second-degree assault. In August 2023, she was sentenced to 18 years in prison for her role in the patients' deaths.
