Judges Rejects Claim of Emotional Distress by Family

A judge Friday threw out a claim that “Angel of Death” suspect Efren Saldivar intentionally caused emotional distress to the family of an older man who died at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, where Saldivar was a respiratory therapist.

The family of John N. Schwartz, a 91-year-old man who died in 1993 after a hip replacement, claims that Saldivar caused the death and then inflicted emotional distress on the family by confessing and recanting his alleged crimes.

But Burbank Superior Court Judge Carl J. West dismissed the claim without comment, though he also ruled the rest of the civil wrongful death case will proceed. The judge set the trial to begin Feb. 12, 2001.

Terry M. Goldberg, Saldivar’s lawyer, said Friday’s action was a minor victory.

“The momentum is building in our favor,” he said.

Chris Nicoll, the lawyer for the Schwartz family, could not be reached for comment.

Saldivar, 30, has been at the center of a mystery since March 1998, when the Glendale Police Department said he confessed to 40 to 50 mercy killings at the hospital, calling himself the “Angel of Death.” He was arrested but has not been charged. Later he recanted, saying he was depressed at the time and had made everything up.

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Police have remained tight-lipped about the case. But last week, West ruled that investigators must provide at an Oct. 20 court hearing a “definitive timetable” for concluding the investigation. Meanwhile, in civil court, several families have sued Salvidar for wrongful death, alleging he killed their loved ones under his care.