‘Angel of Death’ Inquiry Ended : Accusation: Coroner’s toxicology report finds no evidence of alleged drug overdoses in four exhumed bodies of patients cared for by hospice nurse Darlene Leon. She was never charged.
SAN BERNARDINO — Closing the widely publicized case of a hospice nurse who was publicly accused of possible mass murder--but who was never charged with the crime--the coroner’s office here said Thursday it has found no evidence that terminally ill patients were killed with drug overdoses, and it is dropping its investigation.
Chief Deputy Coroner Phil Alexander said each of four people whose bodies were disinterred for more complete toxicology examinations died of natural causes, as stated in death certificates.
The investigation was prompted when a co-worker of hospice nurse Darlene Leon told San Bernardino Police, and then KNBC Channel 4, that Leon had killed as many as 17 of her patients with drug overdoses. Leon’s co-workers reportedly dubbed her the “Angel of Death.â€
Alexander said his office disinterred four of the bodies as a sampling for further autopsy “and the results came back (as) natural deaths, consistent with the medical records.†The four were cancer victims, he said, and in those cases where amounts of codeine or morphine were detected, they were consistent with prescribed levels.
“As far as we’re concerned,†he said, “the investigation is concluded. We’re closing it out. There will be no more disinterments unless someone comes up with some strong evidence this time.â€
Leon, who lost her job with a nursing organization after the accusations became public in May, proclaimed, “praise the Lord!†when told of the coroner’s conclusion.
“Thank God it’s over,†she said. “Oh man, I feel good. It’s been a living hell--like a nightmare that I thought I’d wake up from, but every time I pinched myself, I wasn’t waking up.â€
Leon said she wasn’t sure what legal action, if any, she might take against her accuser, and she wonders why the accusations were made.
Spokesmen for the San Bernardino Police Department and several other local law enforcement agencies said they were unable to declare the investigations closed because they were awaiting the results of the coroner’s investigation before deciding whether to pursue the matter at all.
In Rialto, where police had assigned an investigator to the case because one of the deceased lived in the city, Sgt. Ray Henriksen said the investigation remained open “pending receipt of the information from the coroner’s office.â€
He added, “Whatever the coroner said will probably be the way all the agencies go with this, unless (police investigators) come up with something on their own that is pertinent.â€
The woman who leveled the charges could not be reached for comment.
Leon, 47, said she hopes to find another nursing job.
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