Kimberly Saenz, LVN, injects dialysis patients with bleach

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Police: DaVita nurse injected 2 with bleach
Affidavit: Nurse told detectives bleach in syringe was for a cleaning solution

A former DaVita nurse charged with injecting two patients with bleach in April told police detectives she drew up bleach in a syringe to measure for a cleaning solution, stated an arrest affidavit filed Friday.

In an interview with detectives April 29, the day DaVita says it fired her from its Lufkin clinic, Kimberly Saenz, a 34-year-old licensed vocation nurse from Pollok, said she administered saline to a patient and that she documented it on the patient's chart, the affidavit stated.

"She also admitted that she had administered saline to (a patient) because her venous chamber was clotting during her dialysis, and claimed she charted this on (the patient's) chart," the report stated. "A check of (the) chart revealed that Kimberly Saenz did not chart giving her anything."

There was no indication in the affidavit of whether Saenz specified if bleach was in the saline solution she administered. Both patients survived, police said.

Saenz, who was fired by DaVita April 29, was arrested by Lufkin police later that day on a charge of public intoxication, according to jail records.

The criminal charges come amid a local, state and federal health investigation at DaVita Lufkin Dialysis Center which closed its doors April 28 after a recent spike in patient deaths and complications.

"Two witnesses reported seeing Saenz draw bleach into syringes and inject the substance into two of the dialysis lines connected to two different patients on April 28, 2008," Young stated in a press release. "Both victims suffered injury after having bleach injected into their systems and one of them required treatment at a hospital for pain and medical complications caused by the injection."

Blood tests of one patient who was admitted to a local hospital following the April 28 incident showed the patient had "an elevated LDH as well as hemolyzation, which could be indicative of a caustic agent, such as bleach, being introduced into the bloodstream," the affidavit stated.

Forensic testing on the syringes and dialysis lines used on the patients showed bleach had been used, the release stated.

DaVita has said it believes an employee intentionally caused the death of four patients at its Lufkin facility. Saenz has not been charged with any patient deaths at the facility and police have not indicated if any charges will be filed against Saenz in connection to patient deaths, although Young said police are continuing the investigation and that additional criminal charges may be filed in the future.

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/co...ta_update.html

[dop]

What the fuck, fucking nuts bitch.:twitch:

[petrina]

but why?

[maryhaze]

hero homicide. humans suck. dialysis sucks too, but this bitch needs to fry.

[RaVen Blackehart]

A former nurse has been charged with injecting 10 patients with bleach at a Texas dialysis clinic last year, killing five of them.

Kimberly Saenz (SINES) was indicted by an Angelina County grand jury on one count of capital murder and five counts of aggravated assault in connection with a spate of patient deaths last April at a DaVita Inc. dialysis center in Lufkin.

The clinic temporarily shut down last year after the unexplained spike in deaths, then later reopened under heavy state oversight.

The 35-year-old Saenz is charged with injecting bleach into each of the patients.

Her attorney, John Henry Tatum, didn't immediately return a call Wednesday.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...Lgm2AD979TGP80

[Marv]

OMG, that is so terrible! 5 of them died. As if being on dialysis is not shitty enough, this bitch decides to do her best to make it even shittier.

And why, FFS? What could she possibly get out of it?

Give her the lethal injection. A huge shot of bleach straight into her jugular.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

[...]
Lufkin Police first arrested Saenz May 30, 2008 — a month after the facility closed — charging her with two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly injecting two patients with bleach who survived. The grand jury indictments have added four additional charges — including capital murder and three additional counts of aggravated assault. The capital murder indictment links Saenz to the deaths of Thelma Metcalf, Clara Strange, Garlin Kelley, Cora Bryant and Opal Few, for which the former nurse could face the death penalty. The five aggravated assault victims include: Marva Rhone, Carolyn Risinger, Debra Oates, Graciela Castenada and Marie Bradley.

[...]

An investigation survey report conducted last year showed 19 patient deaths occurred at the facility in a five-month period that year before the center closed. DaVita's mortality rate was 7.1 percent higher than the state average.

The survey, conducted by the Texas Department of State Health Services stated DaVita officials failed to monitor care provided to patients and did not immediately detect an increase in adverse events related to health and safety. It also found the facility did not keep complete and accurate patient medical records, including patient deaths that were not properly documented. Causes of death or possible death trends from September 2007 through April 2008 were not documented, the survey stated.

A spokesman for DaVita at the time called that report, along with previous reports that showed the center non-compliant with state health standards, to be isolated incidents.

Angelina County District Attorney Clyde Herrington said investigators had no medical evidence available to link the 14 other deaths to Saenz. He explained that DaVita regularly disposed of tubing and other medical equipment used for dialysis before staff realized an unusual number of patient deaths.

DaVita closed its doors April 28, 2008, after staff noticed an unusual cluster of deaths and other patient complications. The company preserved medical evidence, which police used for forensic testing of the syringes and dialysis lines used on patients. Results showed bleach had been used, according to a previous police press release.

DaVita reopened July 2 last year after the state required the facility to abide by its highest level of corrective action, placing four state monitors at the facility until further notice.

[...]

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/co..._breaking.html


PDF of the indictment: http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/lufkindail...indictment.pdf

[Sister Iroz]

What gave her the right to end there lives by shooting bleach into them. Fuck Cunt! I say give her a lethal injection of bleach.

[Sister Iroz]

SAN ANTONIO — A former nurse accused of injecting 10 dialysis patients with bleach at a clinic in Lufkin is out on bail, and her attorney said Thursday that the mother of two is being made a scapegoat and wrongfully accused.

Kimberly Saenz, 35, is charged with capital murder and five counts of aggravated assault. Authorities say she poisoned patients with bleach last April, when a string of deaths began at a DaVita Inc. facility in East Texas where Saenz worked.

Saenz was indicted last week and released on $500,000 bail late Wednesday. Ryan Deaton, hired as her attorney this week, said the allegations are false.

Deaton said there was no motive and accused DaVita, based in El Segundo, Calif., of trying to steer the case toward a scapegoat.

"The investigation is very narrow," Deaton said. "I think when the dust settles the truth will come out."

Lufkin police did not immediately return a phone call for comment. DaVita spokesman Richard Grenell said the company, which fired Saenz last April after police say two witnesses reported seeing the nurse draw bleach into syringes, believes justice will be served.

"We are surprised that she was released but confined to the county line," Grenell said. "However, we have confidence in the grand jury who indicted her on capital murder and have faith that the legal system will deliver justice."

The Lufkin Daily News first reported Saenz's release.

Asked how bleach got into the system of Saenz's patients, Deaton said he believed it was a normal course of business for DaVita to use bleach in its dialysis procedures.

Bleach is used to clean the internal parts of the dialysis machines, but the tubing is not reused from one patient to the next.

Saenz is scheduled to be arraigned in Angelina County on April 17.

Authorities first charged Saenz in May with two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly injecting bleach into patients, both of whom lived.

She had not been charged in any deaths until last week.

It was a turbulent month last April at DaVita's clinic in Lufkin, a city of about 33,000 in East Texas.

Federal health records show that 34 patients were transported by ambulance from the facility that month, more than three times the number for March.

All the alleged bleach injections occurred in April, and five of the patients Saenz is accused of injecting died.

DaVita fired Saenz a day after temporarily closing the Lufkin clinic on April 28. The facility later reopened.

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...svc=7&cxcat=52


I posted this pic because her face looks a little clearer and I can't believe she is out on bond.

[Insomniac]

"The investigation is very narrow," Deaton said. "I think when the dust settles the truth will come out."

Yeah douchebag, your client is a murdering fucking CUNT.

[Whisper]

1st of 12 jurors selected in trial of former Lufkin nurse accused of killing 5 patients with bleach

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) – One juror has been selected while three other potential jurors have been dismissed for now as the prosecution and defense teams continue the tedious jury selection process in the capital murder trial of Kimberly Clark Saenz, 38, of Pollok.

Saenz is charged with capital murder and five counts of aggravated assault, stemming from a 2008 case in which five people died and five were severely injured at the Lufkin Davita dialysis clinic.

The first of 12 jurors, 2 alternates was seated Wednesday morning. She is a Caucasian woman, single mother of two from Lufkin. The process is expected to take a month.

When the jury selection process resumed, Judge Barry Bryan reminded the next potential juror of her oath to answer all questions honestly. He then explained the role of each person inside the courtroom.

District Attorney Clyde Herrington began by asking the young Caucasian woman her opinions on the death penalty.

"I do not like it," she responded.

The potential juror stated she has one child, is from Lufkin, a high school dropout who later obtained a G.E.D. Herrington then explained the jurors' role in considering Saenz to be guilty or not guilty. He asked the woman if she would be able to make a decision based off of the facts and evidence presented in court.

"Maybe (if) it looks obvious…I always ask myself, how do you really know?," said the potential juror. "How do you know for sure if you weren't there?"

The potential juror then explained to Herrington her disagreement with the death penalty. She expressed she would agree to a life sentence, or other options, but not the death penalty.

"What was your reaction when you learned this case involved the death penalty?" said Herrington.

"That it was serious," replied the woman.

After further discussion of the death penalty, the woman then turned to face questions from the defense.

In the opening questions, the woman appeared to criticize the questions, which she said limited her ability to respond.

"Those questions are not specific enough. They're too generalized for me to come up with a decent answer," said the potential juror.

Defense attorney Steve Taylor reminded the potential juror that this may be the biggest decision she has to make.

Herrington then asked permission to confer with the defense and the potential juror was asked to wait outside the courtroom.

Both sides agreed to dismiss the potential juror.

The next potential juror was called in and reminded of her oath taken on Monday.

The older Caucasian woman stated she knew Ryan Deaton prior to this case because he has represented her son.

Herrington briefly described the death penalty and examined the woman's views toward it before passing the potential juror to the defense.

Defense attorney Ryan Deaton explained to the juror that part of her duty would be to hold the state to its "burden of proof." He asked several more questions before passing the juror.

An older Caucasian woman then took the stand to answer questions from the state and the defense.

She explained she is a retired widow with two children, 6 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

She said she barely knew anything about the case. She said the information she received was off a KTRE Facebook post.

Herrington then discussed the potential juror's views on the legal system. He questions her in detail about her background and explained more about the workings of capital murder cases.

In its questioning, the defense told the potential juror, "Being a capital juror is a very important burden," said Taylor. She joined the two potential jurors who were dismissed earlier until further notice.

The jury selection process is expected to take about a month.

Earlier:

Saenz is charged with capital murder and five counts of aggravated assault, stemming from a 2008 case in which five people died and five were severely injured at the Lufkin Davita dialysis clinic.

The Angelina County District Attorney's Office is pursuing the death penalty for Saenz.

Ryan Deaton serves as Saenz's defense attorney.

Judge Barry Bryan began Wednesday's juror questioning by first allowing attorneys for the state and defense to ask any questions. With no questions, Bryan began the selection by calling in the first potential juror.

When she entered the courtroom, the middle-aged Caucasian woman swore to give accurate answers as she took her seat on the witness stand, looking out at the defense and the state.

The state started with questions about the woman's background.

She revealed she was born and raised in Lufkin. She also has two daughters.

After a brief explanation of her background, Clyde Herrington, Angelina County District Attorney, expressed some concern.

"One of the things that truly concerns me is that on your questionnaire, you said if you had jury duty all day Monday through Friday, for 4 to 6 weeks, it could cause you serious financial problems," said Herrington.

The potential juror then stated she was a working single mother.

"It would be a hardship, but I know my duty," she said.

The state then asked her feelings toward the death penalty.

The potential juror said at first she was against it, but her feelings have since changed.

In further questioning, the woman stated she was not familiar with any of the details surrounding the case and therefore had no preconceived notions about it.

Shortly thereafter, the defense was given its chance to ask questions.

"This will be one of the most important decisions you make regarding the life of a complete stranger. Will you be able to do that?" asked defense attorney Steve Taylor, assistant to Ryan Deaton.

"Given the evidence, yes," replied the potential juror.

Following a brief recess, the defense announced they would accept the woman as the first juror.

Both sides were then called to the bench for a brief discussion with the judge.

The woman was called back into the courtroom. Judge Bryan informed her that she would be seated on the jury and that she would be called back when it was time for her to continue in the case.
[...]

http://www.ktre.com/story/16598436/1...ts-with-bleach

Kim Saenz during jury selection

[Whisper]

LUFKIN (AP) -
[...]
On Monday, Kimberly Saenz, a 38-year-old nurse who worked at the clinic, was set to face trial for one count of capital murder that accuses her of killing as many as five patients and five counts of aggravated assault for injuring five others.

With the inspectors present April 28, 2008, two patients undergoing dialysis said they suddenly didn’t feel well and two others reported separately they saw Saenz inject bleach into dialysis tubing used by fellow patients Marva Rhone and Carolyn Risinger.

Saenz, who had worked there for eight months, was sent home, police were summoned and the clinic was shut temporarily amid fears patients were in immediate jeopardy. The next day, Saenz was fired.

A year later, an indictment listed sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as bleach, as her “deadly weapon” that killed the five, including Rhone and Risinger. The disinfectant is a normal cleaning solution used at medical facilities like the dialysis clinic where Saenz worked as a licensed vocational nurse, an entry-level health care position.

If jurors convict the mother of two in the trial expected to last a month, prosecutors have said they’ll seek the death penalty. Jurors also could choose life without parole as punishment.
She has pleaded not guilty and has been free on bail.

A motive was unclear.

“She has no motive to kill anyone,” one of her lawyers, T. Ryan Deaton, has said.

All parties involved in the case were under a gag order from State District Judge Barry Bryan that blocks them from speaking about it outside the courtroom.

“Kimberly Saenz is a good nurse, a compassionate, a caring individual who assisted her patients and was well liked,” Deaton said in a recent court motion.

Saenz herself swore in an affidavit she had no previous felony record.



But Angelina County District Attorney Clyde Herrington, in pretrial court documents, listed about a dozen instances of wrongdoing he planned to present to jurors, including allegations Saenz overused prescription drugs, had substance abuse and drug addiction problems, was fired at least four times from health care jobs, put false information on an employment application and sought a health care job in violation of terms of her bail.

Bryan said last week he understood a plea bargain offer from prosecutors had been withdrawn after Saenz’s lawyers rejected it.

Federal investigators examined blood tubing, IV bags and syringes used by the patients who could spend three days a week tethered for hours to a machine that filters their blood — a job their kidneys can no longer do.

A Food and Drug Administration report found some samples linked to some of the victims tested positive for bleach while others showed bleach “may have been present at one time.”

According to policy at the clinic, bleach was used in various concentrations to clean blood from surfaces, chairs used by patients and internal parts of machinery. Then chemical reactive agents were used to confirm bleach residue had been removed and the cleaned areas were safe.

Deaton has insisted his client is being made a scapegoat for mistakes and policy violations at the clinic. State health department investigators found dozens of “adverse occurrences” like incomplete and undated entries on logs required to document the disinfecting procedures.

He also has questioned findings that bleach was the source of the problems.

“Chest pain and cardiac arrest are not specific for bleach infusion,” he wrote in a motion.

A review of the clinic’s records by an inspector affiliated with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found Saenz was on duty for 84 percent of the instances where patients suffered chest pain or cardiac arrest. Deaton downplayed the finding, saying one other clinic staffer was there for all of the instances and another for 89 percent.

About three dozen people worked at the dialysis center, which was shut for about two months before reopening.

Joel Sprott, an attorney DaVita Inc., operator of the Lufkin clinic, said the Denver-based company has turned over more than 10,000 pages of records related to the case. Through 2011, DaVita operated or provided services to 1,809 dialysis facilities in the U.S., serving some 142,000 patients and employing more than 41,000 people.

The company said at the time of Saenz’s indictment it looked forward to the justice process “that will hold this individual accountable for her heinous acts.”

Spokesman Vince Hancock, citing the judge’s gag order, would say last week only that DaVita was proud of the care provided daily at its Lufkin clinic and looked forward “to continuing our steadfast commitment to the Lufkin community.”

Of the 300 convicted killers on Texas death row, only nine are women. And although Texas is the nation’s most active state carrying out capital punishment with 479 executions since 1978, only three women have been put death since the Civil War.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/t...th-bleach-ivs/

[Dakota Valkyrie]

In day 13 of Kimberly Saenz’s capital murder trial, her defense attorney suggested to the judge that another DaVita Dialysis employee could have caused the deaths of five patients.

Attorney Ryan Deaton told state District Judge Barry Bryan, who had dismissed the jury for the day, that he believes one of Saenz’s former coworkers could have killed the five patients by injecting them with bleach.

Deaton claimed that the other employee was believed to have been having an affair with a neighbor’s spouse. After the affair stopped, Deaton said, the other employee allegedly threatened the neighbor’s spouse with a knife. That’s proof of the other employee’s violent tendencies, Deaton said.

The other employee harassed the couple via mail, text messaging and phone calls, Deaton said. Then the couple received an anonymous letter styled like the ones they had gotten from the employee, Deaton said. He put the neighbor’s spouse on the stand, still outside the presence of the jury, to testify about the letter.

“Around September of last year we received in the mail a loaded syringe with a typed letter,” the spouse testified. “It was a 10 cc syringe, but I don’t know what was in it. It was a clear liquid.”

“Did the letter say something to the effect of ‘Bang, bang. Get your high on.’?’” Deaton asked.

“Yes,” the spouse said.

“And did you take that as a threat?” Deaton asked.

“Yes, sir,” the spouse said.

The spouse testified about holding onto the syringe for a couple of months out of instinct before eventually throwing it away.

After Bryan heard the spouse’s testimony, Deaton announced his belief that the other employee could be the real killer.

“There is aggression and violent tendencies in that (person),” Deaton said. “If there is anybody here that is a killer, I would have to say that is the person.”

In response to Deaton’s accusation, prosecutor Clyde Herrington said he believes the situation was nothing more than a love triangle with no bearing on Saenz’s case.

“These are anonymous innuendos connected with boyfriend/girlfriend situation,” Herrington said. “There is nothing to connect (the other employee) with the theory of an alternate perpetrator. It’s irreverent and prejudicial.”

Herrington said there are things in Saenz’s past that show she has violent tendencies, as well.

“There are things about Ms. Saenz not in evidence because the door hasn’t been opened that indicate she has violent tendencies,” Herrington said. “The jury hasn’t been able to see that because it isn’t appropriate at this time.”

Continuing to argue his point before the judge, Deaton said he believes the other employee sending a syringe as a threat is relevant because the DaVita patients supposedly died through the use of a syringe.

“Are you accepting the fact people at DaVita were killed by syringes filled with bleach?” Bryan asked.

“No, I’m saying this is an alternate perpetrator theory,” Deaton quickly responded.

Bryan concluded that the jury would not be allowed to hear the testimony.
[...]

Wednesday morning started with more testimony from former and current DaVita employees and a woman who worked for a company contracted to clean the building. Vicky Sheffer testified that on April 28, 2008, the day DaVita was shut down by the state pending the outcome of an investigation, she took out several bags of trash that appeared to be shredded documents. Throughout the course of the trial, Deaton has theorized that DaVita employees destroyed evidence in an attempt to make Saenz a scapegoat.

Former DaVita employee Connie Baker took the stand in front of the jury, backing up Saenz’s claim she measured bleach in a syringe for her cleaning water. Baker testified it was a practice she saw used by several employees at the center in 2007 and 2008. When asked by Deaton why she chose to give her two weeks’ notice in mid April 2008, Baker began saying, “I felt like someone was going to get blamed ...”

Her sentence was cut off by an objection from Herrington.

http://lufkindailynews.com/news/loca...871e3ce6c.html

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Almost four years to the day former nurse Kimberly Saenz began injecting DaVita Dialysis patients with bleach, an Angelina County jury labeled her a serial killer.

Following four weeks of testimony and 14 hours of deliberation, the verdict was read by state district Judge Barry Bryan around 5:20 p.m. Friday as Saenz stood beside her defense attorney, Ryan Deaton. Bryan began with the first five counts of aggravated assault pertaining to patients who survived having their dialysis lines injected with bleach in April 2008. She was found guilty on three of those charges for the aggravated assaults of Marva Rhone, Carolyn Risinger and Marie Bradley. She was found not guilty in the alleged attacks of Debra Oates and Graciela Castenada.

Bryan then announced her guilty of capital murder in count six of the indictment, meaning jurors believe she killed at least two of the alleged murder victims — Clara Strange, Thelma Metcalf, Garlin Kelley, Cora Bryant and Opal Few.

With the verdict read, Saenz gasped and her father, sitting on the front row, buried his face in his hands. A mixture of emotions flooded the courtroom — tears of relief from victims and their families and tears of sadness from Saenz and her family. Visibly shaken, Saenz dabbed her eyes with a tissue before officers placed her in handcuffs and led her out the door.
[...]

Since being charged in May 2008, Saenz has spent no more than nine days in jail after posting a $300,000 bond. She will now spend the weekend there awaiting a punishment phase set to start at 9 a.m. Monday.

At that time, jurors will hear more testimony before determining if she will die by lethal injection or spend the rest of her life in prison.

http://lufkindailynews.com/news/loca...a4bcf887a.html

[Dakota Valkyrie]

After being sentenced to life in prison without parole, Kimberly Saenz was addressed by family members of the DaVita Dialysis patients she killed by injecting them with bleach in April 2008.

“You are nothing more than a psychopathic serial killer,” said Wanda Hollingsworth, the daughter of murder victim Thelma Metcalf. “I hope you burn in hell.”

With her sentence read around 3:30 p.m., District Attorney Clyde Herrington informed Saenz she would be hearing from the families of her victims. She showed no emotion and at times looked down, scrawling on a legal pad as she was addressed by five more women who lost a loved one by her hand.
[...]

In the trial’s sentencing phase, the subject of the two children Saenz will no longer see on a daily basis brought tears to her eyes. The mention of her son, who Saenz dropped out of high school to have prior to her senior year, left her sobbing. As her daughter’s principal, Karen Shumaker, took the stand on her behalf, Saenz continuously wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue.
[...]

In the sentencing phase, jurors heard testimony from a series of character witnesses to help them determine if the 38-year-old Pollok woman should be sentenced to life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection. She leaned her head to one side, listening intently as criminal defense attorney consultant Frank Aubuchon outlined for the jury what prison life will be like for Saenz. Aubuchon, a 26-year Texas Department of Criminal Justice retiree, said she will become one of 28 women serving life in prison without parole. Defense attorney Steve Taylor said the only way Saenz is coming out of prison is in a box, as Aubuchon nodded in agreement.

As a highly supervised inmate on a maximum security unit, Saenz will share a cell with another woman serving at least 60 years. There are also restrictions on what type of prison job she can have, Aubuchon said, adding she can only work in the kitchen, laundry or industrial factory.

Before the defense brought out its character witnesses, the state called Lufkin Police Det. Stephen Abbott to the stand to go over documents about Saenz’s past nursing history. Prior to working at DaVita, she was fired from Woodland Heights for stealing Demerol, a highly addictive narcotic painkiller, Abbott said. After being fired from DaVita, Saenz applied to work as a receptionist in a Lufkin medical office and lied on her job application. Herrington pointed out where Saenz said she had been employed at a non-medical business for seven years, leaving DaVita off her employment history.

Herrington also delved into her personal life, bringing out the details of an assault/family violence arrest from 2007 and a public intoxication charge she received the day her DaVita supervisor sent her home. Both arrests were a result of domestic disputes between she and her husband that played out at the home of his mother’s boyfriend, Herrington said.

When asked if she had anything to say while being escorted out of the courthouse, Saenz said nothing, avoiding eye contact with any members of the media. Before the courthouse elevator doors closed, Saenz turned her back to the cameras, telling deputies, “I just want to get out of the camera’s way.”

http://lufkindailynews.com/news/loca...9bb2963f4.html