Beatrice Roberson Cline was 79 when she was admitted to Community Hospital of the Valleys in Perris late on April 4, 1981, for chest pain linked to known heart disease and congestive heart failure. She was described as alert after arrival, and morphine eased her pain, but overnight her chest pain returned and she developed bradycardia. Nurse Robert Rubane Diaz gave morphine and atropine; about three minutes later, at roughly 1:55 a.m. on April 5, Cline began having seizures, became unresponsive, and her condition rapidly deteriorated. Resuscitation included lidocaine, but she was pronounced dead at about 2:32 a.m.

What drew investigators was a series of similar, violent seizures and rapid arrests among other patients who were on Diaz’s night shifts beginning March 29, some of whom died.

Diaz was later identified as the central suspect in a string of suspicious in‑hospital deaths; he was arrested November 23, 1981, and charged in a 12‑count murder indictment that included Cline. The trial involved extensive expert disagreement over whether the deaths were natural or caused by massive lidocaine doses. Did anyone who knew Beatrice Roberson Cline notice any change in her health care or the ICU around that time?