Jennifer Hall, former hospital worker, arrested 20 years after patient death investigation

CHILLICOTHE, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) - A former respiratory therapist who has been charged with first-degree murder stemming from a 2002 case has been taken into custody.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri reports Jennifer Anne Hall, 41, was arrested by authorities in Kansas on Thursday.

“Great work by the officers and agencies working together in locating Ms. Hall,” the sheriff’s office wrote on its social media.

KCTV reports Hall worked at Hedrick Medical Center from December 2001 to May 2002.

During her employment, the rate of cardiac collapse incidents “rose alarmingly,” according to authorities. Investigators said 18 such incidents were recorded during her employment at the hospital, when, on average, the hospital had one incident per year.

Court documents stated that from those 18 cases of cardiac collapse, nine people died. Staff believed Hall was responsible for the patient deaths and hospital administration ordered Hall to be monitored.

When patient Fern Franco was found dead in May 2022, Hall was placed on administrative leave, according to court documents. An autopsy on Franco’s remains revealed the presence of succinylcholine and morphine, two substances not prescribed by her doctors.

The extradition process is expected to begin as soon as possible for Hall to be brought back to Missouri, according to the sheriff’s office.

Attorney Matthew O’Connor represented Hall in the past and said no evidence existed to connect her to those deaths.

Copyright 2022 KCTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.