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World's Most Evil Killers S06E10 Genene Jones
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00:00In September 1982, Chelsea McClellan had what appeared to be a severe reaction to an inoculation
00:08and died in a small hospital in Comfort, Texas.
00:12She was just 15 months old.
00:15Doctors couldn't work out why Chelsea had died so suddenly,
00:19but the truth was she'd been murdered,
00:21and her killer was the nurse who was meant to be caring for her.
00:26When you're sick and in need and you need a doctor,
00:30the last place you think is going to happen to injure a child or hurt a child is the medical
00:37field.
00:38And when that happens, well, it's the worst of the worst, in my opinion.
00:45The killer nurse was 32-year-old Janine Jones,
00:49and Chelsea McClellan was not her first victim.
00:53It's believed this twisted angel of death could have taken the lives of over 50 babies
00:59and young children.
01:01A monster disguised in the outfit of a caring nurse,
01:07a woman who should have been there to help to make young lives better,
01:14but she never did.
01:15She ended them.
01:16Jones' arrest and trial sent shockwaves across Texas.
01:22Her crimes had gone undetected for almost four years.
01:26If you look at the graph of deaths that occurred at the hospital district,
01:32Janine Jones was always on the shift
01:34and somehow always find herself immersed in whatever happened in the death of an infant
01:41on what later became known as the death shift.
01:45Janine Jones, a killer of helpless children,
01:48had been exposed as one of the world's most evil killers.
02:13In January 2020,
02:1669-year-old Janine Jones pleaded guilty to the murder
02:20of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer.
02:23She'd already served 36 years of a life sentence
02:26for killing 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan over three decades earlier.
02:32Proving that a nurse was killing children
02:35by injecting them with a lethal amount of drugs was no mean feat.
02:40It was an investigation that took its toll on Texas Ranger Joe Davis.
02:47When we go to bed at night, we were thinking about it.
02:50When we woke up the next morning, we started investigating again
02:54because this was a crime that we all felt like we had to solve.
03:00This is a crime that you don't see happen normally.
03:04We had to get it done,
03:05and we'd give it our all to make it happen.
03:09Jones had begun her insatiable killing spree
03:12while working in a pediatric intensive care unit in San Antonio, Texas,
03:17but she went undetected for almost four years.
03:22Victim advocate Andy Kahn worked with the parents and siblings
03:26of many children who believe Jones was responsible
03:29for the death of their loved ones.
03:32When you look back in hindsight,
03:34you can pretty much squarely say that something was irregular,
03:39something was happening,
03:39but back then, nobody put two and two together.
03:44This killer's story begins on the 13th of July, 1950.
03:50Janine Ann Jones was born in San Antonio, Texas,
03:54but at a young age,
03:56she was put up for adoption by her birth parents.
03:59It was the start of a difficult childhood.
04:04Looking back at Jones' early life,
04:06there is quite a lot of trauma in that adoptive family.
04:10So we see that two of her brothers died.
04:13One died in an accident at home, another one died of cancer,
04:17and then later on, her father died of cancer.
04:21So there are a lot of things going on in this family unit
04:25that she does not feel in control of.
04:27She does not feel that stability and that safety and that security,
04:31and I think that potentially is a factor
04:34that accelerated her on the course that she took.
04:38Growing up, Jones felt like she didn't belong in the family unit.
04:44She wasn't raised in the best conditions.
04:47She always felt, from what I could find out,
04:49that she was the black sheep of the family.
04:53She would often say that she was unwanted,
04:56that she was unloved,
04:57and I think when you hear somebody spinning that narrative,
05:01you've got to look at the motivation behind it.
05:03So what is it that they're trying to get?
05:05They're trying to get validation.
05:06They're trying to get attention.
05:08So we have this poor me character that emerges.
05:11By June 1976, Jones had been married, divorced,
05:17had two children with different fathers,
05:19and after a brief time working at a beauty parlour,
05:22the 25-year-old was training for a new vocation.
05:27I think Janine Jones' choice of a career in nursing
05:31was quite a deliberate one, quite a strategic one.
05:34So she's somebody who always felt that she was unloved,
05:38that she was unwanted, and when you are a nurse,
05:41people are very grateful for the work that you do.
05:44They're very thankful for what you do to help them
05:46and to help their relatives.
05:48So I think this was something about validation
05:51in this career appealed to her.
05:55In October 1978, Janine Jones began working
05:59on the pediatric intensive care unit,
06:02known as PICU, at Bearer County Hospital in San Antonio.
06:06Her former colleague, Cherie Pendergraft,
06:09remembers meeting Jones for the first time.
06:13When she was hired on, I was in charge of orienting her
06:17to the unit, making her feel comfortable with surroundings,
06:20where things were, what procedures we did,
06:23and all of those things, and then also assessing her knowledge
06:27and nursing skills to make sure that she would fulfil
06:29the requirements needed for patient care in the PICU.
06:34Jones seemed interested in treating patients hands-on.
06:40Janine took one of the advanced courses
06:42that we offered in the education and training department,
06:45one of which included IV therapy.
06:47She became very proficient at starting IVs
06:50and liked doing procedures on patients.
06:55Starting an IV itself requires a bit of finesse and skill
06:58because getting the tiny needle into the tiny, tiny little vein
07:03of a pediatric patient can be very challenging,
07:06but she became very proficient at it.
07:09Cherie found Jones to be an intense personality on the PICU ward,
07:14and sometimes her compassion came across as eerie and extreme.
07:19It was the first or second night that she came on duty,
07:24and there was a very small, premature baby admitted
07:31who was very sick, and the likelihood of it surviving was very slim.
07:39So we cared for the baby for a few hours, and it passed away.
07:45And Janine asked me if she could hold the baby,
07:49and I said, well, yes, which I thought was kind of unusual,
07:53but I thought maybe she felt deep compassion for the baby
07:58because this was her first exposure
08:01to this particular kind of incident where a baby died.
08:06And so she took the baby over to the corner of the PICU
08:09and sat in the rocking chair and rocked the baby
08:12for I think about an hour and was sobbing.
08:16And I just thought that was an unusual reaction
08:19to the death of a very tiny, tiny, premature baby
08:26that she had no attachment to.
08:28She hadn't had time to form any attachment to it.
08:31The longer Jones was in the role, the more difficult she became,
08:35and she seemingly had ideas above her station.
08:40Jones was a licensed vocational nurse,
08:43so this is more of a nursing assistant-type role,
08:46and it contrasts with a registered nurse
08:49who is a fully qualified, certified nurse.
08:52And I think Jones always felt entitled to more.
08:55She was never happy and content with what she had.
08:58She always had to go further,
09:00but she would step over the line.
09:02She would push the boundaries in ways
09:04that were unprofessional and unethical.
09:08She was crass and foul-mouthed,
09:12and she came across as arrogant and know-it-all a lot of times,
09:16and some of the nurses really did not like that.
09:20She would be making decisions
09:21that registered nurses would normally be making,
09:24and those were things
09:26that she shouldn't really have been doing.
09:28So that sense of entitlement,
09:30that sense of grandiosity,
09:31is there from the very beginning.
09:34Sherry clashed with Jones on more than one occasion
09:37during her time at Barrow County Hospital.
09:40On one particular night shift,
09:42Sherry came to relieve Jones from a traumatic situation,
09:46but her reaction was far from professional.
09:50I went and put my things down in the back
09:52and came into the room where Janine was performing CPR
09:55on a little maybe 8-year-old boy or so
09:58who had been a near-drowning.
10:00She had been working for 16 hours at that point,
10:03or a little bit more then,
10:05and she was due to come back the next morning for another shift.
10:10But a clearly exhausted Jones
10:12refused to hand over control to Sherry.
10:16And she said, no, I'm performing CPR.
10:20And I said, no, I can take over.
10:22I'm perfectly capable of performing CPR and taking over,
10:25so you really need to go home.
10:27And she refused, and she yelled at me.
10:30And so I called the nursing house supervisor,
10:34told her the situation, and she came down
10:38and told Janine that she needed to leave
10:40and go home and get some rest.
10:42She stormed out of the room.
10:44I took over CPR.
10:45She went and grabbed her things,
10:46and then she stormed out of the ICU swearing and yelling,
10:52which I thought was a strange sort of overreaction
10:56and a possessiveness of the patient situation at that time,
11:01not wanting to relinquish.
11:03She wants attention.
11:05She feels entitled to attention.
11:06She likes drama.
11:08She thrives on it.
11:09She's somebody who wants to be centre stage,
11:11and I think that is the motivation here.
11:14She's always entitled to more.
11:16She always wants to create a drama
11:19and place herself right in the middle of it.
11:22Sherry Pendergraft had no idea
11:24that her colleague's lust for drama
11:26had in fact turned deadly.
11:29And a staff logbook would soon reveal
11:32an unnatural number of infants
11:34were dying on the Piku ward
11:36at Berra County Hospital
11:38whenever Janine Jones was working.
11:41No child was safe on the death shift.
11:54In the early 1980s,
11:56Janine Jones was working as a nurse
11:59on the pediatric intensive care unit
12:01at Berra County Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
12:06Her colleagues had begun to notice
12:08that the infant death rate would rise
12:11whenever she was on the wards.
12:15Jones used to work a late shift,
12:183 p.m. until 11 p.m.
12:20And this shift became known as the death shift
12:23because for a period of around 15 months,
12:25people were 10 times more likely to die
12:27during this period of time
12:29than any other period of time.
12:32One baby who survived his time
12:34on the death shift
12:35was four-week-old Rolando Santos,
12:37who arrived on the ward in December 1981.
12:42He had some issues with pneumonia,
12:45some breathing problems,
12:46and he was admitted
12:47to the pediatric intensive care unit.
12:50And he becomes even more unwell
12:52when he's in there.
12:54And he starts to bleed
12:55from a site where he's previously had an injection.
12:59Now, a doctor orders some tests to be carried out,
13:02and they come back positive for heparin,
13:05which is a blood thinner.
13:06And this doctor ordered Rolando
13:09to be taken off
13:10the pediatric intensive care unit.
13:12And this was a decision
13:13that actually saved this child's life.
13:16A staff logbook was used
13:19to record Rolando's near-death experience
13:21and a host of other similar incidents.
13:24The abnormal spike in the death rates
13:27was highlighted by the colleagues
13:29of nurse Sherry Pendergraft.
13:32Several of the nurses in the PICU
13:36called my attention to the logbook
13:39one day when we were sitting
13:41in the nursing station.
13:44And they noticed that there was
13:47a higher-than-usual mortality rate.
13:51And so I looked at the logbook,
13:54and yes, there did seem to be
13:57a higher mortality rate during that time.
14:00And it seemed to happen mostly
14:03on the 3-to-11 shift.
14:04More of the deaths occurred
14:06on the 3-to-11 shift,
14:08according to the logbook.
14:11Sherry took the logbook to her superiors,
14:14but her concerns fell on deaf ears.
14:17At that point in time,
14:18it was at the discretion of the head nurse,
14:20and if she didn't see anything worth investigating,
14:25because she trusted all her nurses.
14:28So I don't think that she saw
14:31any particular reason to investigate it
14:35any further other than
14:36my bringing it to her attention.
14:39The hospital managers and administrators
14:41will say, well, show me the proof
14:44that there is no proof.
14:45But doctors and nurses,
14:46their intuition is really well-honed,
14:49and it's not some mystical thing.
14:51It's a thing that's based on experience
14:53and expertise.
14:55As somebody with compassion,
14:57as somebody who relates very well
14:59to other people,
15:00you can pick up when somebody
15:02is not quite right,
15:03and those are warning signs
15:04that really should have been heeded here.
15:06The lack of scrutiny
15:08of the hospital records
15:10stunned victim advocate Andy Kahn
15:13when he became involved
15:14in the case decades later.
15:17When the Bexar County Hospital District
15:20decided to actually take some action
15:22involving the high rate
15:23of infant mortality death,
15:25they didn't call for an investigation.
15:28They didn't bring, you know,
15:29the police department down there.
15:31They didn't take statements.
15:33They wanted to sweep this under the carpet.
15:36So all of the licensed vocational nurses
15:38were replaced with registered nurses.
15:42Jones was offered another position
15:44in the hospital,
15:45but she chose to resign instead.
15:47And I think at this point,
15:48she realizes that the net is closing in
15:51and she needs to move on.
15:53And so Janine Jones
15:55was for all intents and purposes
15:56now no longer working
15:58at the hospital district.
16:00And as a result of her
16:02no longer working there,
16:04gee, guess what?
16:06All of a sudden,
16:07the deaths declined.
16:08Wow, what a fascinating coincidence.
16:10So as far as the
16:11Bexar County Hospital District goes,
16:13they're out of it.
16:15I think at this point in time,
16:16she feels absolutely untouchable.
16:19I think there's a part of her
16:20that realizes that this is a PR job.
16:23This is the hospital
16:24trying to make the problem go away.
16:26And it suits her down to the ground.
16:29Sherry Pendergraft had no idea
16:32she'd been working alongside a woman
16:34who was intentionally harming babies
16:37in the paediatric intensive care unit,
16:39the one place children
16:41were meant to feel safe.
16:43It's difficult to believe
16:45that I worked with someone
16:46who became so evil.
16:51to take the lives
16:54of other people's children
16:56for their own attention-seeking
16:58or goals
17:02is just beyond comprehension
17:05for a normal person.
17:08But we're not talking
17:09about a normal person here.
17:13So it has affected me
17:15in the sense that
17:16I worked with her
17:17and I wish that
17:20I had become aware of something
17:23that may have stopped her
17:25from progressing.
17:27We just had
17:31no evidence
17:32of any direct connection
17:33with kids dying
17:36on Janine Jones' watch.
17:38And I think it was beyond
17:41our comprehension
17:42that anything like that
17:43could even happen
17:43on our watch.
17:49In March 1982,
17:52Janine Jones left
17:53Berro County Hospital
17:54and five months later,
17:56she started another job
17:5860 miles northwest
17:59of San Antonio
18:01at a new paediatric clinic
18:03in the small town
18:04of Kerrville, Texas.
18:05At the time
18:07of this investigation,
18:08it was approximately
18:0920,000 people.
18:11We're located
18:12off Interstate 10,
18:15about 60 miles west
18:16of San Antonio.
18:18It's mainly
18:19a retirement town.
18:21In September 1982,
18:23a case landed
18:25on Joe's lap
18:26that would change
18:27the town forever.
18:28I was in my office
18:30when I received
18:31a telephone call
18:32from an investigator
18:33for the Board of Nursing
18:35in Austin.
18:36Tony Hall,
18:38who was a hospital
18:39administrator
18:40at Sid Peterson Hospital
18:41in Kerrville,
18:43had advised him
18:44that they had started
18:45an investigation
18:46on a nurse and doctor
18:48who was having
18:50several babies
18:52were coming into
18:53the emergency room.
18:54They had never witnessed
18:55this before in Kerrville,
18:57and one of the babies
18:58had died.
18:59And during the conversation
19:01with the investigator,
19:02he told me, he said,
19:03Joe, I think you have
19:05a child killer
19:06in Kerrville.
19:08All the babies
19:09had come into the hospital
19:11via the new
19:12pediatric clinic
19:13in town,
19:14run by Dr. Kathleen Holland,
19:16who was assisted
19:18by nurse Janine Jones.
19:20It was Jones's behavior
19:22in the aftermath
19:23of the revelations
19:25that focused Joe's
19:26attention on her.
19:28He had told me also
19:30that Janine Jones
19:31had come into the hospital
19:33the day before
19:34and apparently
19:36had tried to commit suicide,
19:38only they were
19:38kind of suspicious of that.
19:40From what she had taken,
19:42it wasn't that serious.
19:43When the investigation
19:44gets underway,
19:46Jones stages
19:47a suicide attempt.
19:49So she ingests
19:50some drugs,
19:51which are nowhere near enough
19:52to bring about her death,
19:54but they're enough
19:55to create the illusion
19:57that she's tried
19:57to take her own life.
19:59And when we look
20:00at the impact
20:00of this kind of behavior,
20:02it's going to bring you
20:03quite a lot of sympathy,
20:05quite a lot of attention.
20:06You'll get considerable
20:08compassion
20:08from other people.
20:09So I think it was
20:11that outcome
20:11that she was interested in.
20:13This was not
20:14a serious attempt
20:15to end her life.
20:16Joe went to meet
20:18Jones at the hospital
20:19to get her side
20:20of the story.
20:22So I told her
20:23I'd like to go ahead
20:24and interview her
20:25at that time
20:26since she's there
20:27at the hospital.
20:28So he arranged for me
20:30to go to a conference room
20:31in the hospital
20:33and they brought
20:34Janine Jones in
20:35and that's when
20:37I first met her
20:38and started an interview
20:39with her
20:40over the investigation.
20:43For the first time,
20:44Janine Jones
20:45was under investigation
20:47for murder.
20:49I was in the conference room
20:51when they brought
20:52Janine Jones in
20:53and I identified myself
20:55as a Texas ranger
20:57and told her
20:58I was there
20:59to investigate
21:00some emergencies
21:02that were coming
21:03into the hospital
21:05from their office
21:06and that one of the babies
21:08that were brought in
21:09had died.
21:11And so I started
21:12interviewing her
21:13regarding the emergencies.
21:16Throughout the brief discussion,
21:19Janine Jones didn't flinch.
21:21She didn't seem upset.
21:23She was pretty cool
21:24and collected,
21:25answered the few questions
21:27I had for her
21:28and was cooperative
21:30with me at that time.
21:33But something told Joe
21:35it wouldn't be the last time
21:36he'd cross paths
21:37with Janine Jones.
21:40Before I left,
21:42I asked her,
21:42I said,
21:42OK,
21:43I'm going to start
21:44an investigation
21:45and would you be willing
21:47to take a polygraph test
21:49in the near future?
21:51And she said she would.
21:53So I told her
21:54I would be getting back
21:55with her later
21:56when I had more information
21:58and she agreed,
22:00OK,
22:00and that more or less
22:01entered the interview
22:02at that time with her.
22:05With no evidence
22:07against her,
22:08Janine Jones
22:09was free
22:10to leave the hospital.
22:12Joe Davis's
22:14detective instincts,
22:15however,
22:16told him that everything
22:17was not as it should be.
22:19He was certain
22:21Jones was involved
22:22and now
22:23he had to prove it.
22:36In September 1982,
22:39nurse Janine Jones
22:41was working
22:41at a new clinic
22:42in the town
22:43of Kerrville, Texas.
22:46She'd taken a job
22:47with pediatrician
22:48Dr. Kathleen Holland,
22:50who, like Jones,
22:52had previously worked
22:53at Berra County Hospital
22:54in San Antonio.
22:57A number of suspicious
22:59infant collapses
23:00had led detectives
23:01to speak to Janine Jones
23:03and next on their radar
23:05was Dr. Holland.
23:08During the interview
23:09with Dr. Holland,
23:10she told me
23:11and I found out
23:12that when these patients
23:14were brought in
23:15by their mothers,
23:15these young infants,
23:18Janine Jones would
23:19say,
23:20let me take the baby
23:21back to the back
23:22so y'all can talk.
23:24The babies may be crying
23:26or making some noises
23:27and not long after
23:29the baby was taken
23:31to the back,
23:32Janine Jones
23:33would holler out,
23:34oh, the baby
23:35stopped breathing.
23:36I need an emergency.
23:37I'll come back quick.
23:39We need to call
23:40an ambulance.
23:42Dr. Holland
23:43was ruled out
23:44as a suspect
23:45and attention
23:46turned solely
23:47to Janine Jones.
23:49One of the babies
23:51who had fallen ill
23:52at the clinic
23:53was Chelsea McClellan.
23:55Victim liaison officer
23:57Andy Kahn
23:58got to know
23:58Chelsea's mother,
23:59Petty,
24:00in the aftermath
24:01of the case.
24:03She'd taken
24:04her 15-month-old daughter
24:06for some routine
24:07inoculations
24:08in September 1982.
24:11Petty pretty much
24:12told me the story
24:14of what happened.
24:15I mean,
24:15she just brought Chelsea
24:16to the clinic.
24:18She's only 15-month-old.
24:19There wasn't anything
24:20really serious
24:21going on with Chelsea.
24:23And the next thing
24:23she knows,
24:25all of a sudden,
24:26you know,
24:27there's a code blue
24:29with Chelsea.
24:30Just like
24:31the other children,
24:33Jones had volunteered
24:34to give Chelsea
24:35her injections.
24:36Sad-facing
24:37Petty McClellan,
24:39Jones had Chelsea
24:40on her lap
24:40and injected her twice,
24:42once in each leg,
24:44before the 15-month-old
24:45began struggling
24:47to breathe.
24:48An ambulance
24:50took Chelsea
24:50to the emergency room
24:52at the Sid Peterson
24:53Hospital in Kerrville,
24:54where her conditions
24:55seemed to improve.
24:57But now,
24:58back in the ambulance,
24:59Chelsea suddenly
25:00deteriorated again.
25:02One of the nurses
25:03had actually seen
25:05Janine Jones
25:06before an ambulance
25:08left the hospital
25:08in Kerrville,
25:09give the baby
25:10another shot
25:11as the doors
25:12were shutting.
25:14But on the way,
25:16she and an attendant
25:17was in the back
25:18when Chelsea went
25:20into cardiac arrest.
25:22Dr. Holland
25:23was following
25:24in a car.
25:25They immediately
25:26pulled over,
25:27tried to revive her.
25:29Dr. Holland said,
25:30let's take her in
25:31to the hospital
25:32in comfort,
25:33and that's where
25:34she passed away.
25:37Janine Jones
25:38had brazenly
25:39murdered Chelsea
25:40McClellan
25:40in front of
25:42her own mother.
25:44When we look
25:45at Chelsea's murder,
25:46we can see
25:47that Jones
25:48was absolutely
25:49determined
25:50to end
25:50this little girl's life.
25:52So when she gave her
25:53these so-called
25:54routine immunizations,
25:56and she became
25:56incredibly unwell,
25:57but they didn't kill her,
25:59Jones made sure
26:00that she was
26:01in the ambulance
26:01with this child
26:02on the way to hospital.
26:03She wanted to finish
26:04the job.
26:06How personal
26:08that must be
26:10to have a
26:12infant in your
26:13hands
26:14and taking
26:15a needle
26:17and knowing
26:18full well
26:19that you're taking
26:21their life.
26:23That's about as
26:25cold-blooded
26:25diabolical
26:26as you can get.
26:31Despite Jones'
26:32actions,
26:34nobody was aware
26:35that she was
26:36responsible
26:36for Chelsea's death.
26:38The drug that Jones
26:40administered to Chelsea
26:41was a drug that
26:42essentially disappears
26:44without a trace
26:45when it's entered
26:46into the body
26:47of somebody.
26:48So an autopsy
26:50is not able
26:50to establish
26:51what the cause
26:52of death is.
26:53So sudden infant
26:55death syndrome
26:55is entered
26:56on the death certificate.
26:59And I know
27:00for Petty
27:01it was like
27:02I brought
27:03my child in
27:05you know
27:06there wasn't
27:06anything serious
27:07going on
27:08and now she's dead.
27:10And so she started
27:11questioning
27:12and she brought up
27:13a lot of questions
27:14and she brought
27:16this to the attention
27:17of the
27:18Kerrville County
27:19District Attorney's
27:20Office
27:21who eventually
27:22opened up
27:22an investigation.
27:24As part of
27:26a deeper look
27:26into the death
27:27of Chelsea McClellan
27:28and the other
27:29collapses coming
27:30out of the clinic
27:31Detective Joe Davis
27:33visited Dr. Kathleen
27:35Holland once more.
27:37She'd spotted
27:38some superficial
27:39damage
27:39in a vial
27:40of a drug
27:41called succinylcholine
27:43an anesthetic
27:44muscle relaxant.
27:46Dr. Holland
27:47notices
27:48that the vial
27:49of succinylcholine
27:50has got puncture marks
27:52in the top
27:52and she knows
27:53that she hasn't
27:54used it.
27:55And so obviously
27:56it has to be Jones
27:58because they were
27:58the only two people
27:59with a key.
28:01Two bottles
28:01one was capped
28:02and one was uncapped
28:04and in the top
28:05of that one bottle
28:06that was uncapped
28:07was several
28:08puncture holes
28:09needles
28:09as if they were
28:11taking that drug out
28:13somebody was.
28:14However
28:15the bottle
28:16appeared to be full
28:18so I told her
28:19at that time
28:19I needed that bottle
28:20to have it checked
28:21to make sure
28:23that the drug
28:24was still in there
28:25or what was
28:26in that bottle
28:27or if it had been
28:28refilled.
28:30The results
28:31proved to be
28:32a huge turning point
28:33in the investigation.
28:35They checked it
28:36and notified me
28:37later that it was
28:38a saline solution.
28:39It was not the drug
28:41that was supposed
28:43to be in it.
28:44It looked like
28:45it had been refilled
28:46and so that indicated
28:48that maybe
28:49the whole bottle
28:49had been used
28:50in some of these
28:51emergencies
28:51which was good to know.
28:55You know
28:56in courtrooms
28:57and in law enforcement
28:59there's like
29:00a smoking gun
29:01that's kind of
29:01what it's called
29:02and the smoking gun
29:05was that tiny
29:07little puncture wound
29:09in that bottle
29:10of succinylcholine.
29:13A search
29:14into her background
29:15meant the finger
29:16of suspicion
29:17suddenly began
29:18to point directly
29:19at Jones.
29:21I found out also
29:22that Janine Jones
29:24had taken a class
29:25in San Antonio
29:27strictly on the use
29:29of this drug.
29:30While she was there
29:31being a nurse
29:32she asked for that class
29:34and learned the ins
29:36and outs
29:36of administering
29:37that drug.
29:38So she was very
29:39familiar with it
29:40before she came
29:41to Kerrville
29:42and what doses
29:43to use.
29:45Joe scoured
29:46the world
29:47for a way
29:48to prove
29:48that succinylcholine
29:50was used
29:51to murder Chelsea.
29:52He found a doctor
29:53from Sweden
29:54who developed
29:55a way to identify
29:56the supposedly
29:57undetectable drug
29:59in body tissue
30:00but that meant
30:01investigators
30:02had to make
30:03a difficult decision.
30:06On the 7th
30:07of May 1983
30:09with the permission
30:10of her parents
30:11Chelsea McClellan's
30:13body was exhumed.
30:15When they exhumed
30:16Chelsea
30:17and opened
30:17the casket
30:18I was present.
30:21It was amazing
30:22that she looked
30:23like a little doll
30:24laying there
30:25had her bonnet on
30:27and her favourite
30:27little toy
30:28was a little duck.
30:30It was really
30:31a sad moment
30:33for all of us
30:34to witness.
30:35The body tissue
30:36was examined
30:37in Stockholm
30:38and the results
30:39showed conclusively
30:40that dangerously
30:41high levels
30:42of succinylcholine
30:44were present
30:45in Chelsea McClellan.
30:46She had been
30:47callously murdered
30:48by the nurse
30:49who was meant
30:50to be helping her.
30:52After we found
30:53the drug,
30:54of course,
30:54we knew that
30:55Janine Jones
30:56had been lying to us
30:58and she had been
30:59observed also
31:00by another nurse
31:01as I previously stated,
31:03given another shot
31:04when Chelsea went down
31:06and it all indicated
31:08based on all
31:09the evidence now
31:10that she was
31:11in our minds
31:12guilty.
31:14On the 25th
31:16of May, 1983,
31:18Janine Jones
31:18was arrested
31:19for the murder
31:20of Chelsea McClellan,
31:22but the 32-year-old nurse
31:24denied any wrongdoing.
31:26I took Janine Jones
31:28down first
31:29to be examined
31:31on the polygraph
31:32and questions
31:34were asked
31:34regarding the investigation
31:36and her contact
31:38with the patients
31:39and did she do anything
31:40to injure them
31:41or give her any substance
31:43or anything.
31:44And she actually
31:45failed the polygraph
31:47based on the questions
31:49asked there.
31:50She did not pass it.
31:52Tried to talk to her more
31:53but she just,
31:55being who she was,
31:56she's saying
31:56the polygraph's wrong,
31:58I didn't do nothing wrong
31:59and maintained
32:00that she was innocent
32:01of anything
32:02to those babies.
32:05In February 1984,
32:07Janine Jones
32:08was on trial
32:09for murder.
32:10In her defense,
32:11Jones argued
32:12that she'd used
32:13succinylcholine
32:14on Chelsea McClellan
32:15appropriately
32:16and denied
32:17trying to kill her.
32:19I mean,
32:20this is a complicated case.
32:22This is 1984.
32:24You know,
32:25there's a lot
32:25of medical jargon
32:27that has, you know,
32:28going around
32:28for the jury
32:29to comprehend.
32:31But I'll tell you what,
32:32this jury saw right through.
32:34And when people
32:35were testifying
32:36in the courtroom,
32:39I mean,
32:40there wasn't really
32:40a dry eye
32:41in the courtroom.
32:43The only dry eye
32:44in the courtroom
32:45was Janine Jones,
32:47who didn't show
32:49any emotion,
32:51anything.
32:53Jones was found guilty
32:55and sentenced
32:56to 99 years
32:57for murder.
32:58In October 1984,
33:00Jones was found guilty
33:01once more
33:02for attempting
33:03to kill
33:03Rolando Santos
33:04at Barrow County Hospital
33:06between December 1981
33:08and January 1982.
33:11She was given
33:12another 60-year sentence
33:14that would run concurrently
33:16to the 99 years
33:17she was already serving.
33:19It took the jury
33:20no time
33:21to become
33:21completely convinced
33:23that she had indeed
33:24set out to kill
33:26both Chelsea
33:27and Rolando
33:28in a heartless,
33:30cruel manner,
33:33thereby trying
33:34to make herself look
33:34at one moment
33:36saviour,
33:37at the next moment
33:38killer.
33:39It is a dreadful conceit,
33:41an evidence
33:42of pure wickedness.
33:45Janine Jones
33:46was finally in prison,
33:48but under Texas legislation,
33:49she was due
33:50to be freed in 2018.
33:53Outraged
33:53by the impending
33:54release date,
33:55a group of relatives
33:56who were certain
33:57Jones had killed
33:58their loved ones
33:59came together
34:00to fight the injustice.
34:02They wanted to keep
34:03Janine Jones
34:04behind bars
34:05for good.
34:16By 2017,
34:19convicted baby killer
34:20Janine Jones
34:21had served 33 years
34:23in prison for murder,
34:24but her time inside
34:26was coming to an end.
34:29Legislation put in place
34:30to ease the overpopulation
34:32of prisons in Texas
34:34meant she would soon
34:35be free.
34:37Court reporter
34:39Elizabeth Zavala
34:40followed the latest chapter
34:41in the story
34:43of the killer nurse.
34:48Because of that law
34:49to ease prison crowding,
34:51Janine Jones
34:52would have been eligible
34:53for parole
34:54in March of 2018.
34:57And for people
34:59in the San Antonio community,
35:02Bexar County,
35:03South Texas even,
35:05they just didn't want
35:06to see a convicted baby killer
35:08like Janine Jones
35:09be released
35:10out into the public.
35:12The fight for justice
35:14was spearheaded
35:15by the mother
35:15of Janine Jones'
35:17murder victim,
35:18Chelsea McClellan.
35:20Petty McClellan-Weesey
35:21had refused to give up
35:23the fight over the years
35:24whenever Jones was up
35:26for parole.
35:27Petty would go
35:28to the parole board hearings
35:30and she made it a point
35:32to be there every time
35:33and argue
35:34for Janine Jones
35:36to stay behind bars.
35:37She was very passionate
35:41about that
35:42because of her own
35:43child's death
35:44but also
35:46Petty felt
35:47very protective
35:49of the San Antonio
35:51mothers.
35:52Mothers in San Antonio
35:54who'd lost babies
35:55at Berra County Hospital
35:57during Jones' time there
35:59all believed
36:00their children
36:01could have been murdered
36:02by the killer nurse.
36:04Victim advocate
36:05Andy Kahn
36:06worked with Petty McClellan-Weesey
36:09to find some new cases.
36:11We ended up actually
36:13forming a Facebook group,
36:15a closed Facebook group
36:16called Victims of Janine Ann Jones
36:18and that's how we communicated
36:21and we started hearing
36:22from other families.
36:24Their infants also died
36:25under, quote,
36:26the death shift
36:27and that's how we started
36:29getting other people involved
36:31and other families involved
36:32and that just spiraled
36:34from there.
36:36With the help of Petty
36:38and Andy Kahn,
36:39District Attorney
36:40Joe Gonzalez
36:41identified a handful
36:43of potential victims.
36:45We had five
36:46separate indictments,
36:48the strongest
36:48of which was the case
36:50involving
36:51young Joshua Sawyer
36:54and I will tell you
36:55that the reason
36:56that that case
36:57was the strongest case
36:58that we had
36:59was because of his mother,
37:01Connie Weeks.
37:02She had kept
37:04meticulous records
37:05of her child
37:07going to the doctor.
37:09Had it not been for her,
37:11I don't believe
37:12we would have been able
37:13to prosecute Janine Jones
37:14the way we did.
37:1711-month-old Joshua Sawyer
37:19had died at
37:20Barrow County Hospital
37:21while Jones was working
37:23in the pediatric
37:24intensive care unit.
37:27Joshua Sawyer
37:28was brought into hospital
37:30in December in 1981
37:32because there'd been a fire
37:33in his home
37:34and he'd experienced
37:35some smoke inhalation
37:36and that shouldn't have been
37:38the end of his life
37:40but he had a cardiac arrest
37:42when he was in the hospital
37:43and it transpired
37:45that he had a huge amount
37:46of anti-seizure medication
37:48in his system,
37:50way more than the normal range.
37:53Joshua Sawyer
37:54had been injected
37:55with a deadly amount
37:57of Dilantin,
37:58an anti-seizure medication.
38:01And so the effect
38:03that it would have had
38:04was a violent effect
38:06on his body,
38:06I think,
38:07on the muscles.
38:08Basically,
38:09it was an overdose
38:09of Dilantin
38:10and so that's
38:11what caused
38:12the death
38:13of Joshua Sawyer.
38:15A series of hearings
38:17followed
38:17in which it was decided
38:19that the new charges
38:20could be brought
38:21against Janine Jones,
38:23much to the relief
38:24for Petty McClellan-Weesey
38:26and Andy Kahn.
38:28I was floored
38:30and it was quite
38:32an emotional day,
38:33obviously, for Petty.
38:34It was emotional for me
38:35who'd been involved
38:36with this for so long
38:38to see her charged
38:39and to know,
38:40at least right now,
38:42she wouldn't be
38:43legally released
38:45because she was brought
38:45back to a Bexar County jail
38:48and held in custody
38:49under a $1 million bond
38:51pending the charges.
38:53Jones would remain
38:54behind bars
38:55until a new trial date
38:57was set.
38:58Unfortunately,
39:00Petty McClellan-Weesey
39:01would not get
39:02to see justice served
39:03for a second time.
39:05She passed away
39:06in June 2019
39:08at the age of 64.
39:12I remember
39:14getting a call
39:16and sadly,
39:17at this time,
39:18Petty had passed away
39:20and that was,
39:21I was just
39:22so saddened
39:23by her sudden passing
39:25and she didn't get
39:26to live
39:27to see
39:28the culmination
39:29of her efforts.
39:31Her culmination
39:32of efforts lived
39:32through other families
39:33that she brought together
39:35and she was kind of
39:37like the godmother
39:38of this group
39:39and everyone
39:41looked up to her.
39:46Suddenly,
39:47as preparations
39:48were being made
39:49for the trial,
39:50word came through
39:51that Janine Jones
39:52had agreed
39:53to a plea bargain.
39:54She would plead guilty
39:56to the murder
39:56of Joshua Sawyer
39:58in exchange
39:58for a life sentence
40:00and the other four cases
40:01to be dropped.
40:03She was due
40:04to confirm this
40:05at a San Antonio
40:06courthouse
40:07in January 2020.
40:11And, you know,
40:12keep in mind
40:12at that time,
40:13Jones could change
40:13her mind
40:14at any moment
40:15because she's the one
40:16that agreed
40:17to the deal
40:18and the deal
40:18was she would plead guilty
40:19to the one murder
40:20and the other charges
40:22would be dropped.
40:23There's always
40:24that little apprehension
40:25that this isn't
40:26going to happen
40:27and when she
40:29finally pled guilty,
40:31it was quite a sense
40:32of relief
40:33for everybody
40:34there that day.
40:36Janine Jones
40:37had finally admitted
40:38to killing
40:39at least one baby
40:40under her care.
40:43Has she suddenly
40:44developed a conscience?
40:46Does she suddenly
40:46feel compassionate
40:47for her victims
40:48and their relatives?
40:49No, I don't think
40:50so whatsoever.
40:51I think what's going on here
40:53is she's trying
40:53to prevent a trial
40:54from taking place
40:56because during a trial
40:57a lot of information
40:58becomes known about you
41:00and she would not want
41:02that information
41:02to become known.
41:04So she is essentially
41:05taking back control
41:06by putting in
41:08this guilty plea.
41:10I actually looked
41:11to see whether or not
41:12she had any reaction.
41:14I never saw any tears
41:15in her eyes.
41:16I never saw any indication
41:18of any remorse,
41:19which is pretty indicative
41:21of your cold-blooded
41:23serial killers.
41:25Here, you had a lady
41:26that as far as I'm concerned
41:27was evil incarnate.
41:29She was a woman
41:31who made a point
41:33of ending infants' lives
41:35and she didn't appear
41:37to have any remorse.
41:39She never indicated
41:40in court
41:41that she was sorry
41:43for what she did.
41:44In January 2020,
41:47Janine Jones
41:48was given another
41:49life sentence
41:50for the murder
41:51of 11-month-old
41:52Joshua Sawyer.
41:54Janine Jones
41:55was sentenced
41:56to life in prison,
41:57which means that
41:59she will have to serve
42:01the sentence
42:02until 2038.
42:04That is the first opportunity
42:05that she has
42:06to be eligible for parole.
42:08Now, she will be
42:09about 87 years old
42:11at that time.
42:12And so we suspect
42:13that she may not make it
42:15or if she does,
42:17that her parole
42:19will be denied.
42:20We believe that she will
42:21spend her very last breath
42:23in prison.
42:25I think that
42:27the families feel
42:30they have justice.
42:32The one thing
42:34that was always constant
42:36with each family member
42:39of one of these children
42:41was that they wanted
42:44for Janine Jones
42:46to die in prison.
42:49Janine Jones
42:50has officially been found
42:51guilty of two murders.
42:53But experts suggest
42:55the real number
42:56of deaths caused
42:57by her deadly injections
42:58could be somewhere
43:00between 40 and 60.
43:02But her continued silence
43:04means we may never know
43:06the full story.
43:09Families will be wondering
43:11for generations
43:12whether or not
43:12they lost their loved ones
43:14at the hand
43:15of this cold killer.
43:17When I look back
43:18at Janine Jones'
43:20reign of terror,
43:21I get angry
43:23and so upset
43:25and very emotionally drained
43:27because look at
43:28who her victims were.
43:31These were infants.
43:33None of her victims
43:35could run, yell,
43:37scream for help.
43:39They were at her mercy.
43:42And they were with someone
43:43whom families believed
43:45they could trust.
43:47When somebody in the medical field
43:49takes advantage
43:50of especially a young baby
43:52that can't talk
43:54and say what happened
43:55and tell the story
43:58of what Janine Jones did
43:59when she took the baby
44:01to the back
44:03and pretty bad.
44:06And it's people
44:07that you trust
44:08with your own kid
44:10to help that kid get well
44:13and they ended up
44:14causing his death.
44:16What could be worse
44:17than that?
44:34Jones was a cold-hearted killer.
44:38She took the lives
44:39of young children
44:40who did not have
44:41the voice or strength
44:42to fight against her.
44:44To intentionally harm a child
44:46is a callous act
44:48but to do it
44:49under the guise
44:49of a caring nurse
44:51is abhorrent.
44:52And that's why
44:53Janine Jones
44:54will forever be remembered
44:56as one of the world's
44:57most evil killers.