WOODSTOCK, Ill., April 5 (UPI) -- An Illinois nurse and a supervisor face charges after authorities allegedly found their nursing home patients received excessive morphine doses and later died.
Marty Himebaugh and her former supervisor at Woodstock Residence in Woodstock both face felony neglect charges, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday.
Prosecutors allege Himebaugh gave patients larger-than-prescribed doses of morphine to patients and that Penny Whitlock, the nursing director, only reacted to the overdoses by calling Himebaugh the "Angel of Death."
The investigation began in 2006 with allegations that six patients at the nursing home had received excessive doses of morphine. Eventually, the bodies of three patients were exhumed.
Whitlock, who is also charged with obstruction of justice, was arrested Friday at the nursing home. Himebaugh, who no longer works at the home, has also been charged with unlawful possession and dispensing of morphine.
Louis Bianchi, the McHenry County state's attorney, said neither Himebaugh nor Whitlock is charged with actually causing death or killing anyone.
"We have made the charges we can prove," he said.
