David Wesley Harper was 37 when he was admitted to Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, for bronchitis on March 18, 2002. His condition improved and he agreed to stay one extra night to be fitted for a C-PAP mask, but he died on March 21, 2002.

The respiratory therapist on duty, Jennifer Hall, became the primary suspect after hospital staff reported a sharp rise in cardiac arrests and deaths during her six-month employment from December 2001 to May 2002. In the 25 minutes before Harper’s death Hall failed to document two visits to his room, and employees later reported finding a vial of the muscle relaxant succinylcholine in her pocket — a drug she was not certified to administer and which was not prescribed to Harper. Succinylcholine can paralyze the diaphragm and cause suffocation while the victim remains conscious.

For years the case remained unresolved and families later filed wrongful-death claims against the hospital. The criminal investigation was reopened in 2012. Does anyone have information about Harper’s care at Hedrick Medical Center in March 2002 or recall unusual activity at the hospital during that period?