‘Angel of Death’ survivor Coyle dies at 65

Gary Moskowitz

Longtime Glendale resident Jean Coyle, who was the only known

hospital patient to survive a drug injection from self-proclaimed

“Angel of Death” Efren Saldivar, died Saturday morning at a nursing

home in Covina.

Coyle, 65, lived in Glendale for 22 years before moving closer to

her daughter, Michelle Elmore, in Covina.

Coyle had been in and out of Glendale Adventist Medical Center for

about 10 years for problems associated with emphysema, when she

received a dose of either Pavulon or succinylcholine chloride from

Saldivar in February 1997, police said.

The drugs are used to stop a patient’s breathing before surgery

and without proper treatment, the person can suffocate.

Coyle was revived after a “code blue” emergency, because hospital

staff responded quickly enough to save her, said Mario Yagoda, one of

six Glendale Police Department officials who spent four years

investigating Saldivar, who was a respiratory therapist at Glendale

Adventist and other area hospitals.

Saldivar was spared the death penalty last year after he agreed to

serve six consecutive life sentences without parole -- one for each

victim -- and an extra life sentence for Coyle’s attempted murder.

“[Coyle] was extremely lucky that staff responded so quickly and

that she lived to tell the story,” Yagoda said Tuesday. “She was the

sole survivor, based on our investigation. She was a really nice

lady. I worked closely with her. I’m really sorry to hear about her

passing.”

A viewing for Coyle is from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Guerra Gutierrez

Mortuary, 5800 E. Beverly Blvd. in East Los Angeles. A graveside

funeral Mass is at 10 a.m. Monday at the chapel at same site. The

viewing and funeral Mass are open to the public.

Family members this week remembered Coyle as a “loving woman” who

always showed up for family functions with her hair done and makeup

on, said Kristy Phanuekthong, Coyle’s granddaughter.

Just before her death, Coyle had compiled a list of Christmas

gifts she wanted to get for family members, Phanuekthong said

Tuesday. Family members are collecting items to put in a box that

will be placed inside Coyle’s casket, including Coyle’s lucky bingo

cards, pictures and letters.

“Our family is not that big, and she was such a big part of it,”

said Phanuekthong, 21. “She was a feisty woman, and always said what

was on her mind.

“Our family had a lot of anger toward [Saldivar] back then, but

that is all resolved. But I think she was at peace with dying now,

because she had been ill for so long. She lived seven or eight years

past [the Saldivar incident], and that is a miracle,” Phanuekthong

said.

The Glendale Police Department spent more than $2 million

investigating the Saldivar case, Yagoda said. Police served more than

30 search warrants, interviewed more than 300 hospital employees and

researched more than 500 medical records, Yagoda said.

Saldivar told authorities he contributed to hundreds of patient

deaths and described himself as an “angel of death” because he said

he could not stand to see patients suffer. He later recanted his

confession and medical records showed that the health of some of his

victims had improved before they died, police said.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that people make donations to

the American Lung Assn. by calling (212) 315-8700 or visiting

www.lungusa.org.