‘Angel of Death’ Case Puts Strain on 1 Family

Regardless of what detectives find in their probe of alleged “angel of death” Efren Saldivar, the fired hospital worker is guilty of at least one crime in the eyes of Frances Worcester.

Worcester’s mother, 80-year-old Anna Nelson, died unexpectedly last July 24 at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, where Saldivar once claimed to have killed dozens of terminally ill patients. Her death remains under investigation by police.

“Even if he made all this stuff up, the torment that he is putting us all through is horrible,” said Worcester, a teacher at Hoover High School in Glendale.

“We’re reliving it again and again, wondering,” said Worcester’s sister, Kathryn Fuller. “It’s a crime against the survivors.”

Nelson’s daughters are the first family members to publicly acknowledge an involvement in the Saldivar case, which is looking into the deaths of several hundred patients who died soon after having contact with Saldivar.

Sgt. Rick Young, spokesman for Glendale police, refused to say whether Nelson’s death was part of the police probe. But Worcester said she received a telephone call last month from an investigator who informed her that her mother’s case remained open.

Worcester said her mother’s chart contained a “Do Not Resuscitate” order, which Saldivar allegedly told police was a prerequisite for him to carry out a mercy killing.

And although Nelson had battled diabetes and other ailments for years, her death was unexpected, both of her daughters said.

In fact, Fuller said, she decided to return to her home in Virginia temporarily after a doctor told her that her mother had at least two weeks to live.

A few hours after that conversation, Fuller said, her mother was dead.

“I think the thing that hurts me the most is that I was robbed of a chance to say goodbye,” Fuller said.

Worcester said that if Saldivar is guilty of killing her mother, then he’s responsible for another death, too.

Her stepfather, Henry Nelson, died of heart failure five months after the death of his wife of more than 50 years.

For the past few years, Worcester said, her stepfather’s life revolved around his visits with Nelson in a nearby nursing home.

“He had nothing to do after she died,” Worcester said. “I think he just decided not to get up one morning.”

Police began investigating Saldivar in March after receiving a tip that a hospital worker had been killing patients. During an interview, police said, Saldivar confessed to being an “angel of death,” who had killed 40 or 50 terminally ill patients.

Authorities, unable to file charges because there was not sufficient evidence to prove a crime had been committed, released Saldivar shortly after he was arrested.

In the following weeks, he appeared on two nationally televised magazine shows and recanted the confession, telling viewers he fabricated the story because he was suicidal and wanted the death penalty. Saldivar has not been charged with any crime.