Doctor Faces Multiple Murder Charges

Dr. Robert Weitzel was either an angel of mercy, easing the pain of his dying patients, or a methodical killer preying on the elderly patients entrusted to his care.

Over 16 days from late 1995 to early 1996, five of the psychiatrist’s patients died at the geriatric-psychiatric unit of the Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton.

Prosecutors contend that all five were admitted for dementia--not life-threatening diseases--and that Weitzel killed them with lethal doses of morphine.

Now the 43-year-old doctor is charged with five counts of murder and could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted. His trial begins Monday in Farmington.

Weitzel’s notes state he ordered nine nurses to administer morphine to the patients. In some cases he consulted with the patients’ families about making their loved ones more comfortable as they died.

At least four patients or their relatives had signed do-not-resuscitate orders. The relatives trusted the doctor and believed their family members had died natural deaths.

Karen Bringhurst, a nurse, described the day her mother, 72-year-old Mary Crane, died.

“I asked if there was anything we could do,” Bringhurst testified at a preliminary hearing in late January. “Dr. Weitzel said, ‘We can give her some morphine and keep her comfortable and hasten the inevitable.’ ”

Bringhurst thanked the doctor.

Merlin Larsen said at the hearing that he placed his 93-year-old mother, Judith Larsen, who had suffered two strokes, at the hospital after she began causing disturbances at a care center.

Soon after, she was comatose and Weitzel said she didn’t have long to live, Larsen said.

“He was, I thought, very kindly,” he said.

Investigators exhumed the bodies of Larsen, Crane and 83-year-old Ennis Alldredge. Autopsies showed that Larsen died from lethal amounts of morphine, police said. The cause of death was inconclusive for Crane and Alldredge.

Last month the bodies of Ellen Anderson, 91, and Lydia Smith, 90, were also exhumed. Those autopsy results have not been returned.

Attorneys from both sides refused to discuss the case.

But evidence at the hearing showed that one of the five patients died after just 17 hours in Weitzel’s care. None of the deceased was taking any medication stronger than Tylenol prior to being admitted.

Those who know the doctor say the charges are absurd.

“It is truly going to break my heart if he is convicted. People do not realize what a good doctor he is. He saved my daughter,” said Jan Smith LaBard, who credits Weitzel with helping her teenager recover from severe depression.

Keith Lubsen, who has known Weitzel for years, describes him as a loyal friend.

Weitzel surrendered his license to practice medicine in California in 1997 after allegedly having an affair with a former patient.

About that same time, the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing began investigating an anonymous complaint of misconduct in Utah, said division spokesman Kim Morris. The licensing division turned over the contents of their investigation to the police, Morris said. The murder charges followed.

Weitzel also faces federal charges in Utah on 22 counts of prescription fraud. He is accused of writing 18 prescriptions for morphine and four for the painkiller Demerol to six patients, but keeping the drugs.

In addition, he is under investigation in Bay City, Texas, for the Dec. 19, 1998, death of 87-year-old Laura Ware, said Bay City Police Capt. Jim Jumonville.

Weitzel cared for Ware at the Legacy Nursing Home in Bay City. She died at Matagorda General Hospital, where Weitzel also practiced, but officials there refused to comment, citing pending litigation.

Families of Weitzel’s deceased patients seek answers.

Merlin Larsen’s brother, Harold, said, “He’s been in trouble everyplace he’s ever worked. We pity him because he’s made such a mess of his life. We’re hoping we can put a conclusion to it. Maybe the trial will do that, maybe it won’t.”