News

By Meg Jalsevac

San Angelo, TEXAS, October 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Vickie Dawn Jackson, a former nurse in the 38-bed hospital in Nocona General Hospital in northern Texas, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, October 5, 2006 for the killing of 10 patients under her care at the end of 2000 and the beginning months of 2001.Â

Because Jackson plead ‘no contest’ to the charges she avoided a trial by jury, eliminating the possibility that family members would have to testify for or against her. Because of her ‘no contest’ plea, life in prison was the maximum sentence she could receive.Â

It is believed that Jackson would inject her patients with the drug Mivacron which is usually given in small doses to stop the gag reflex when doctors have to insert a tube down the throat. When given in larger doses, Mivacron causes complete paralysis of the throat muscles, causing the victim to suffocate to death while still conscious.Â

The patients that Jackson chose to administer the lethal doses of this drug to were mostly elderly but in different stages of health. Some were in the hospital for such minor things as a foot sore. Some of the patients that were murdered were close to being discharged. Patients such as those, that are more aware and active, are usually more work for the nurse on duty because they have more requests. Jackson seemed to get angered by the patients’ demands. Several other patients, also believed to be injected by Jackson, were resuscitated and survived.Â

One of the more shocking details in Jackson’s murder spree was the fact that one of her victims was Pastor Jackson, the grandfather of her own husband. Jackson was not assigned to be his nurse but when his buzzer rang one night she insisted on checking up on him. She returned to the nursing station a few moments later informing the other nurses that he had died. Jackson attended his wake and funeral as any other family member.Â

The hospital began an internal investigation into the large number of deaths in the small hospital over the several month period simultaneously with the beginning of a criminal investigation by law enforcement. It was soon discovered that several vials of the drug Mivacron were missing from the hospital supply room. By comparing the dates and times of death with the nurses’ schedules they soon narrowed in on Jackson. Upon searching her home, a syringe with a small amount of the deadly drug was found. Jackson’s sentence will allow her to be eligible for parole in 40 years – she will be 81 by that time. Under the circumstances, it is not likely that she will be granted parole on her first request.Â

Jackson’s case was determined in San Angelo, Texas instead of Nocona, the town about 90 miles northwest of Dallas where the crimes were committed, because of extensive media coverage of the killings.Â

Read Related Coverage:
  Justice served – Families of ex-nurse’s victims lash out as sentence https://www.sanangelostandardtimes.com/sast/news_local/article/0,1897,SAST_4956_5047010,00.html
  Nurse gets life sentence for killing 10 patients
https://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/03/killer.nurse.ap/index.html