In the fall of 1974, two unexplainable deaths and suspicious symptoms caused in another six patients at the Marion Memorial Hospital created a scare in Marion. Was there a serial killer working in the hospital? The details of the event are as follows.
On September 21, 1974, 21 year old James Watson, of Route 4, Marion, Illinois, received a severe cut on his foot, near the achilles tendon. The cut was received in an automobile accident. He was taken to the emergency room of the Marion Memorial Hospital. Upon being administered a local anesthetic, Procain, Watson had “convulsive seizures and cardiac arrest.” He was transferred to Saint Luke’s Hospital, in St. Louis where he died on October 5, 1974. An autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause of his death.
On October 2, 1974, 3 year old Brian Schutzenhofer, of Route 1, Whiteash, Illinois, received a cut on his head, after falling from a parked truck. He was taken to the emergency room of the Marion Memorial Hospital. Upon being administered a local anesthetic, Blockain, the boy stopped breathing. Efforts to revive him failed. He died and an autopsy was performed. Autopsy findings could not objectively pinpoint the cause of death. There was no evidence of abnormalities in the different organs examined. However, there was some edema of the brain. At that time, the official cause of death was recorded as cerebral edema, with concussion, but at the time of his death, Coroner James Wilson had no reason to suspect foul play.
On October 3, 1974, 15 year old Michael Simmons, of Route 5, Marion, Illinois received a laceration above the right eye. He was treated at the emergency room of the Marion Memorial Hospital. He was administered a local anesthetic, Procain. He went into respiratory arrest, but was revived and later recovered.
It would be later determined that as many as five other individuals could have been effected but managed to survive suspicious symptoms at the hospital.
Immediately after the Simmons incident, the vials of both the Procain and Blockain were ordered removed from the emergency room shelf by the physician attending Simmons. Both were immediately delivered to Nolan England, then the hospital administrator.
Around October 1, 1974, two unopened, sealed, full vials of Anectine, a muscle relaxant, were found in a locker in the inhalation therapy room of the hospital. These two vials also were delivered to Nolan England.
On January 10, 1975, a sales representative of Abbott Laboratories took a portion of the Procain in question from England and delivered it to Abbott laboratories for analysis.
On January 27, 1975, the vial of Blockain in question was delivered to Abbott for analysis.
On January 30, 1975, Abbott advised the hospital that the Procain in question contained succinylcholine chloride in a concentration of 80 to 120 milligrams per milliliters. The brand name of succinylcholine chloride in question is Anectine, which is a muscle relaxant. The Blockain in question contained succinylcholine chloride in a concentration of 10 to 20 milligrams per milliliter. Both vials had been found to be contaminated.
On February 18, 1975, hospital officials advised law enforcement officials that some very suspicious incidents had taken place at the Marion Memorial Hospital. An investigation was begun.
On or about February 24, 1975, an agent of the Illinois Bureau of Investigation inspected the hospital’s procedures regarding the keeping and dispensing of drugs. He was advised that these procedures had been changed from the procedures in effect in September and October of 1974. He found that previously, a supply of Anectine, the muscle relaxant, could be signed out of the hospital pharmacy and stored in the operating room until needed.
He also found that previously Anectine, Procain and Blockain were kept together in a storeroom near an operating room in existence at that time. His inspection revealed that these procedures had been changed so that the drugs had become tightly controlled. Hospital officials have advised that all drugs and medicines are kept secured and more than one person is needed to obtain them.
The Procain in question was manufactured by Abbott Laboratories. The Blockain was manufactured by Breon Laboratories. Anectine is manufactured by Burroughs-Wellcome. Investigation revealed that manufacturer contamination was highly unlikely, if not impossible
The Procain was contained in the bottle that came from the manufacturer. The bottle is made of clear glass; it is sealed with a rubber seal over which is placed a metal seal. For use, the metal seal is removed exposing the rubber seal, through which a hypodermic needle is inserted to extract the Procain for injection. The bottle is reusable. The Procain is a clear liquid and the bottle is clearly labeled Procain.
The Blockain bottle is the same as the Procain bottle, except it is labeled Blockain.
Both the Blockain and Procain bottles in question had the original factory labels on them intact.
Anectine is contained in a semi-clear plastic bottle. It is contained in powder form. On the lid of the Anectine bottle is a large puncturing device. This puncturing device is covered with plastic which joins the bottle itself and this joiner is sealed with a yellow seal.
When used, the yellow seal is broken and the plastic covering the lid discarded. The lid on which the puncturing device is located, is then unscrewed from the bottle and removed revealing underneath a plastic seal sealing the powder in the bottle. The puncturing device is then used to puncture this plastic seal. The device is hollow; allowing the powdered Anectine to flow into a container containing the liquid it is to be mixed with. Upon mixing, it forms a clear liquid and then is ready to use.
To get the Anectine into the Procain and Blockain bottles, it would first have to be taken from its own container and mixed with liquid. After mixing, it would then have to be extracted by use of a needle and syringe and then injected through the rubber seal of the Procain and Blockain bottles.
In a September 19, 1975, Marion Daily Republican article, the public was alerted to the hospital probe for the first time under the headline “Probe Death of Hospital Patients”. State’s Attorney Robert Howerton indicated that in February of this year, Kenneth Powless, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Marion hospital had contacted his office, the Illinois Bureau of Investigation and the Mayor of Marion regarding the deaths of patients at the hospital. Powless said that,” “Persons who might be questioned in the light of suspicion that exists are no longer in the area”.
An article on September 22, 1975 titled “Possible Murder Victims Identified” in the Daily Republican released the names of the victims publicly for the first time and indicated, “It wasn’t until Last Friday that Howerton told the Schutzenhofers and the Watsons the deaths might be homicides. They were not informed earlier because of the possibility of filing a civil law suit. I felt I could best protect the criminal case, which is my first duty, by proceeding as I did. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he said, “but now there are suspects in the case.”
Howerton and the FBI agree there is no connection between the Marion deaths and those of patients at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan which occurred in the same time frame.
A Daily Republican article titled “Prosecutor to Discuss Hospital Death Probe” on September 23rd appeared but was only a rehash of previous information with no announcements in the case.
In a press conference on September 24th Howerton revealed that six other Marion Memorial patients survived symptoms similar to those manifested by two patients who later died and that they were now engaged in what he called “Phase II” of the investigation.
Howerton said some persons had been given lie detector tests during the investigation, but he would not say how many. He said they included a former hospital employee who was suspended during the investigation by hospital authorities and has since left Marion. He said the test was “in-conclusive.” “No arrest is imminent”, he said.
Howerton stated, “Our investigation began on February 18. It was necessary that the investigation not be made public, because the investigation involved hospital and medical personnel. It was felt that if the investigation were made public, the investigators might have difficulty in obtaining the necessary interviews from these people. To have made it public initially would have been unwise, because at that time we were not sure of the nature of the deaths we were investigating. In addition, publication of the investigation might have allowed for the possible destruction of evidence and the undetected, untraceable leaving of potential defendants. Our investigation was not made public by my direction I would do precisely as I have done if faced with the same decision again. On the other hand, the lapse of time between the incidents and disclosures by the hospital is an event over which I have no control.
Our investigation was made public on September 19, because the incidents at the hospital were beginning to be rumored. In addition, our investigative team received an inquiry from a Michigan newspaper regarding these deaths and our investigation making the investigation public perhaps will damage the investigation. But since a large number of the sensitive interviews have been held, we feel the damage is small when compared to the public’s right to know of this sensitive matter. We felt that it was better to officially inform the public rather than have them informed by rumor.
Recognizing that these incidents were beginning to become known and recognizing that incidents of this magnitude could be kept from the public only so long. I decided to disclose.”
An article released on September 25th titled “Continue Hospital Probe” once again rehashes the story with no new information.
A September 26th article titled “Powless Defends Procedure in Early Phase of Hospital Probe” stated that, Chairman Kenneth Powless of the Marion Memorial Hospital Board Thursday night called upon States Attorney Robert Howerton to apologize for his statement at a news conference Wednesday that “virtually everyone who was an employee of the hospital” when two deaths under investigation occurred is a possible suspect.
The state’s attorney declined comment on Powless’ statement which was delivered at a meeting of the hospital board, employees and the city council attended by 125 persons in the hospital dining room.
In the long run, nobody was ever implicated in this investigation. The hospital almost immediately after the original events occurred changed its policy on drug storage and availability making the incident more difficult to be repeated.
We will likely never know who was responsible for these two deaths and attempts at others.
(Extracted from Marion Daily Republican articles dated, September 19-26, 1975; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 09/19/2013)