COLUMBIA, Mo., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Kentucky prosecutors have dropped first-degree murder charges that had been filed against a former Veterans Administration nurse.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Richard Williams had been accused of killing 10 patients, but the charges were dropped Wednesday because of problems with a chemical test designed to identify the poison that killed the alleged victims.
"My ethical obligation as a prosecuting attorney is not only to zealously prosecute criminals, but also to be fair to those accused of a crime," Boone County Prosecutor Kevin Crane said after Williams was released from custody.
Crane said he could not pursue the case because evidence was no longer sufficient to meet the legal standard for proving murder beyond a reasonable doubt.
