The ‘Angel of Death’ Serial Killer Hid in a Hospital, Killing Silently for Years Until a Lab Caught Him
Indian Defence Review • • health
Key Points:
- Efren Saldivar, a respiratory therapist at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, was suspected of killing patients with lethal doses of Pavulon and confessed to over 100 deaths but recanted, leaving investigators without physical evidence.
- Forensic chemist Brian Andresen and his team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed novel methods to detect Pavulon in decomposed tissue, ultimately confirming the presence of the drug in six exhumed victims.
- Police painstakingly reviewed hospital records, created a "death board" to map potential victims, and exhumed bodies over several months to gather evidence linking Saldivar to the deaths.
- The forensic evidence from the Livermore lab was crucial in securing charges against Saldiv
