In the summer of 1974 Petersburg General Hospital in Virginia experienced an alarming cluster of unexpected deaths in the coronary care unit during overnight shifts. One of those patients was Robert Wyche, who died in June 1974. Hospital staff found no medical explanation for a sudden string of fatalities that concentrated on the same shifts and unit.

An internal investigation focused on 21-year-old nurse’s aide Lee Roy Hargrave Jr., who was present during each of twelve unexpected deaths over a two-week span and often initiated emergency responses. State laboratory toxicology tests later found lethal doses of lidocaine in blood and tissue from the deceased, a drug not prescribed to the victims. Hargrave was arrested on August 14, 1974, and was tried and convicted of the first-degree murder of Josephine L. Thomas; subsequent inquiries linked him to the deaths of several other patients, including Robert Wyche.

If anyone knew Robert Wyche or was working at Petersburg General in 1974, can you share what you remember about him or those shifts?