Coworker Testified in Nurse’s Capital Murder Trial

LUFKIN — A former coworker of nurse Kimberly Saenz testified in her capital murder trial Wednesday that she acted strangely after a patient’s heart stopped beating on April 1, 2008. According to the Lufkin Daily News, patient care technician Cory Smith said he got the crash cart for the cardiac arrests of two patients, including Clara Strange and Thelma Metcalf. They are two of the five people Saenz stands accused of killing by injecting them with bleach.

Smith said that as he was putting the crash cart up from working a code on Strange, Metcalf’s heart stopped beating as well. After getting another breathing device from a closet, Smith said, he handed it to Saenz, who placed the mask on Metcalf and started operating the breathing pump while another nurse did chest compressions. Testimony continued Thursday.