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Ex-Worker Tells of Attempt to Cover Up Death : Court: Receptionist testifies that the operator of an unlicensed abortion clinic sought to dispose of the car and body of a female patient who died on the premises.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

In sworn testimony before the Orange County Grand Jury, a former employee of an unlicensed abortion clinic said that the clinic’s operator sought to cover up the death of a female patient by getting rid of her car and having someone dispose of her body.

Alicia Ruiz Hanna, the clinic’s 31-year-old operator, faces trial early next year on one charge of second-degree murder, and four counts of illegally performing an abortion, including the procedure that authorities believe led to the Jan. 19 death of Angela Nieto Sanchez, a 27-year-old mother of four children from Orange. Hanna has pleaded not guilty.

Kathy Marie Cervantes, 18, a former receptionist at the clinic, testified that Hanna sounded “scared” when she called her on Jan. 19 for help in getting rid of Sanchez’s car. Cervantes said she was stunned to find Sanchez dead in one of the examination rooms, her body covered with a sheet.

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Hanna “said she would give me all the money I want just for me to get rid of the car. Somebody from New York was going to come and take care of the body,” Cervantes recalled Hanna saying. Cervantes testified she refused to help.

It is unclear precisely what caused Sanchez’s death, although authorities believe she suffered heart failure caused by a reaction to an injection. Sanchez had three needle marks in her arms when she was taken to the hospital hours after her death.

Deputy Public Defender Steven Biskar, who represents Hanna, said the cause of death will be a key issue in the case. “Obviously, we’re doing a lot of investigation into that,” he said. “It’s pure speculation at this point.”

Clinic employee Irasema Mendoza, 21, who was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for her cooperation, testified before the grand jury in June that she was cleaning up the office on Jan. 19 when Hanna began yelling that “a patient was dying on her.”

Mendoza said she tried to dial 911, but Hanna hung up the phone and said she would save Sanchez, according to the 397-page transcript. Mendoza said Sanchez was foaming at the mouth and turning blue.

Mendoza testified that Hanna said she would dump the body in Tijuana and then she watched as Hanna dragged the body out to the street, banging Sanchez’s head along the way.

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Hanna was standing behind Sanchez’s car, next to the woman’s body, when Sanchez’s family drove up looking for her, according to the testimony.

Hanna reportedly told conflicting stories about how the woman died. In one version, she said that Sanchez had gone to Mexico for the abortion and then collapsed outside the clinic when she returned. In another, she said that a Mexican man forced Sanchez from a car outside the clinic.

Hanna, who has no professional medical training, was depicted in court records as struggling with financial problems when she took it upon herself to perform abortions and other medical procedures in exchange for cash.

The clinic was poorly equipped and did not have the bare necessities to cope with medical emergencies, according to the transcript.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard King, who is prosecuting Hanna, told the grand jury that Hanna was more interested in making money than protecting vulnerable women.

“And these are acts that can kill people and she knew that,” King said.

Sanchez had gone to the clinic with her 12-year-old daughter, Maria, and her son, Martin. When things started to go wrong, Hanna, according to the testimony, ordered an employee to take the kids for lunch and then tell them to “take a walk.”

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The 12-year-old girl testified that she led her relatives back to the clinic after she spotted her mother’s car and made a grisly discovery.

“They were pulling on something, but I didn’t see what it was,” Maria Sanchez testified. “It was my mother.”

Gynecologist Nicholas Braemer testified that he had terminated his business relationship with Hanna in mid-1992, after discovering that she had performed an abortion.

Dr. Anthony Cappelli, a physician who also was granted immunity to testify against Hanna, said Hanna routinely gave patients injections and anesthesia in preparation for abortions that he performed at the clinic.

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