Jeffrey Lynn Feltner

Serial Killer

Jeffrey Lynn Feltner: Murders in Florida Nursing Homes

Background

Jeffrey Lynn Feltner was an American nurse's aide whose name became associated with a series of suspicious patient deaths in Florida nursing homes during 1988 and 1989. He was born on November 21, 1962, in Miami, Florida, and later moved with his family to Melrose. After finishing school, Feltner began working in elder care. In 1986, his mother helped him obtain a position at New Life Acres, a nursing home in Melrose where she also worked. Feltner reportedly performed well at the facility and was eventually trusted to supervise other aides. That position gave him regular access to elderly residents, including patients who were medically vulnerable and whose deaths might easily be attributed to illness or age. Investigators later concluded that he used this access to suffocate or smother selected patients. Feltner claimed that he wanted to end their suffering, but evidence concerning at least one victim contradicted his suggestion that all of the patients were terminally ill, bedridden or asking to die.

The Deaths at New Life Acres

Five residents of New Life Acres died within a two-month period in early 1988. Their deaths were initially treated as natural and did not immediately produce a murder investigation. In July 1988, however, an anonymous caller contacted a crisis hotline and claimed responsibility for killing three women and two men at a nursing home. The caller described the deaths as acts of mercy and warned that he might kill again. Feltner was questioned, but authorities initially lacked enough physical evidence to charge him with the five deaths. The victims associated with the New Life Acres killings were:

• Berniece Katherine Olsen Died on February 7, 1988, at New Life Acres in Melrose, Florida. Olsen was a retired schoolteacher who had moved to Florida to live closer to her sister. Her death was originally attributed to complications associated with Alzheimer's disease. Sources disagree about whether she was 59 or 69 years old, so no age is stated here as certain.
• Lathan Thornton Died on February 8, 1988, in Melrose, Florida, at the age of 82. Thornton was a longtime Gainesville-area resident, a former businessman and a United States Navy veteran of World War II. His death was initially regarded as natural.
• Sarah F. Abrams Died on February 10, 1988, at New Life Acres in Melrose, Florida, at the age of 75. Relatives reportedly noticed bruising near her nose and mouth and requested an autopsy, but officials initially attributed her death to a heart attack. Her body was later exhumed, and investigators found evidence consistent with smothering. Abrams was reportedly active and able to walk and dance, contradicting Feltner's later suggestion that his victims were all helpless people suffering at the end of life.
• Rita May Sugrue Died on February 18, 1988, in Melrose, Florida, at the age of 63. Her death was initially considered natural and was later included among the killings Feltner said he had committed at New Life Acres.
• William H. James Died on April 6, 1988, at New Life Acres in Melrose, Florida, at the age of 73. James was a military veteran from Jacksonville. Feltner later admitted suffocating him, although he was not separately prosecuted for James's death under the final plea agreement.

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Confirmed Victims: (7)

Berniece Olsen Age: (59), Date of Death: 1988-02-07

Jeffrey Feltner - Wikipedia