Patient Kills Himself in Hospital
A despondent 79-year-old heart patient stabbed himself to death in his room at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, police said today.
Santa Monica Detective Shane Talbott said Earl Muskopf of Pacific Palisades was discovered with his favorite hunting knife protruding from his chest Monday night, after a nurse in the coronary wing noticed a sudden drop in his heartbeat, which was being electronically monitored. Doctors worked to save him for 30 minutes, but Muskopf died at 11:46 p.m.
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