In early 2001, managers at Nocona General Hospital in small-town rural Nocona, Texas, became increasingly anxious. “They had a lot of deaths during December and January,” said Kent Holcomb, Nocona Police Department chief.
Even during a severe flu season, “that was very suspicious,” Holcomb told Sins of the South, which aired on Oxygen.
On January 7, 2001, Jimmy Ray Holder, 65, was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack, raising suspicions.
“He was doing pretty well. “I was going to see him the next day,” said his beloved son, Ronald Holder. However, his father died unexpectedly during the night.
Texas Man Convicted for Trying to Meet ‘CHILD’ With Skittles and Vodka Faces Life Sentence
Over the next 17 days, four more elderly patients passed away. Their deaths looked to be from natural causes. However, red flags were raised.
“Too many people were dying,” said Dr. Len Dingler, chief of staff at Nocona General Hospital, adding that a search for common links, such as drugs, yielded no results. “It was a huge mystery.”
Back-to-Back Code Blues
On January 30, two patients — one older and the other 14 years old — developed respiratory difficulty, triggering code blues simultaneously.
The senior did not survive, but the girl did. “I can’t remember in my career having two code blues at the same time,” according to Len Dingler.
Tracey Mesler, owner of the Nocona News, told Sins of the South that local media had observed the spate of deaths.
About 31 hours after the previous double code blue, it happened again. This time, two ladies coded simultaneously, one at 47 and the other at 35.
Both survived, however after being recovered, one of the patients stopped breathing again when her IV bag was reconnected.
“That’s when it started all over again,” explained Corrie Holcomb, the hospital’s chief nursing officer.
Dr. Chance Dingler, Nocona GH’s attending physician and Len Dingler’s brother, stated that everyone was asking, “What is going on?”
A Drug-related Clue Emerged
Shortly after the four code blues, a pharmacy worker asked Len Dingler a question with far-reaching implications.
“She said, ‘What’s Mivacron for?'” he recounted. “I responded, ‘Why would you ask me that?’ She stated, “We have a vial missing from the crash cart.”
Mivacron is a paralytic that stops breathing. It is utilized when a breathing tube is inserted into a patient’s throat, and its effects last approximately 20 minutes, according to Chance Dingler.
Without the sedative, patients would be aware of suffocation but unable to admit they can’t breathe.
“It’s about the cruelest way to kill somebody,” Len Dingler explained. “I knew right then … somebody’s here killing people.”
West Philadelphia Tragedy: Three Killed, Six Injured in Early Morning Shooting
Len Dingler reported his suspicions to hospital management, who swiftly withdrew Mivacron from crash carts. Moving forward, staff had to sign it out of the pharmacy, and updated procedures were implemented for future code blues.
Every day when a patient died, the staffing was reviewed. There were 11 deaths in December, with an additional 14 in January. The Dingler brothers attempted to identify which deaths were suspicious.
Nurse Vickie Dawn Jackson Raises Suspicions
Before the data could be properly evaluated, patient E.E. Jackson, 92, was discovered dead in his room by nurse Vickie Dawn Jackson, who was married to the patient’s grandson, Kirk, a hospital assistant.
Despite Jackson’s advanced age, the fact that he was OK one moment and then dead the next raised suspicions about the case.
Vickie was the primary suspect because her work hours coincided with previous killings and she had access to Mivacron.
On February 6, the doctors contacted Chief Holcomb to convey their suspicions. Chief Holcomb’s initial action was to ascertain how much Mivacron was missing and notify the District Attorney of the situation at the hospital.
“The District Attorney’s office requested that the FBI be involved,” said Kevin Benton, an investigator with the Montague County DA’s Office.
Detectives kept the investigation confidential while they sought additional evidence linking Vicki to the suspected murders.
In the interim, the review revealed that around 14 vials of the medicine were gone. “That sent a big red flag up,” said Chief Holcomb.
Because of the way Mivacron is metabolized, there is no test to detect it in a deceased body. “The FBI had to invent a test to test bodily fluids for Mivacron,” Chance Dingler explained.
Who was Vickie Dawn Jackson?
Len Dingler reflected on his experiences with the key suspect. “I knew Vickie for some years,” he told me. “She came in early, stayed late, worked hard.”
Investigators discovered that her first marriage was rocky. When she met Kirk Jackson in 1997, she was parenting two children on her own. They eventually tied the knot.
Kirk and Vickie were going through a difficult period in their marriage when the hospital probe was launched.
While doctors were about to fire Vickie, investigators asked them to hold off. “What you don’t want to do is scare somebody off,” said Montague County District Attorney Jack McGaughery. “You want to give them every opportunity to give you more evidence.”
Investigators devised a strategy to catch the suspected killer in the act. They secretly constructed a video camera system above the crash cart and placed a Mivacron vial containing saline inside.
However, nothing unusual came from this scheme.
Then, on February 19, Donnelly Reid, 61, coded.
Reid’s condition did not qualify him for respiratory arrest, so physicians concluded that Vicky had avoided surveillance and injected Mivacron instead.
Reid managed to survive thanks to Dr. Chance Dingler. Blood and urine samples were obtained, along with Reid’s IV tubing.
Reid later informed his doctor that a nurse had entered his room and inserted something into his IV. She saw him fight to breathe. “She was just smiling at him,” Chance Dingler recalled.
In an interview with Chief Holcomb, Reid characterized the nurse as medium-built with blonde hair before selecting Vickie from a photo array.
A Dirty Syringe was Discovered in Vickie Dawn Jackson’s Garbage
On February 20, 2001, Chief Holcomb and an FBI agent questioned Vickie in a hospital conference room.
At the same time, a DA’s investigator and Texas Rangers visited her residence. A liquid-filled syringe was found in her curbside waste can.
Doctors were sacked. Vickie and Kirk, while not being suspects, were also let go. According to Sins of the South, he was surprised to learn that his wife was the primary suspect.
In June 2001, the bodies of ten persons who died at Nocona General Hospital were unearthed to search for Mivacron. A month later, a test report verified what was suspected. “The syringe found at Vickie’s house had Mivacron in it,” added Chief Holcomb.
Boyfriend Murdered Woman, Discarded Body in Wooded Area After Evicting Her: Cops
However, Chief Holcomb could not arrest her until there was evidence that patients had been slain.
Then, 13 months later, all ten unearthed bodies tested positive for Mivacron. The method of death for everyone was changed to homicide.
Where is Vickie Dawn Jackson today?
Vickie Dawn Jackson was arrested on July 16, 2006, for both the murders and Reid’s attempted murder.
Following Vickie’s arrest, her daughter, Jennifer, handed them a sealed package that her mother had given her. It featured Mivacron-related material, hospital death clippings, and Vickie’s handwritten notes.
“I took it as trophies,” Benton explained.
Vickie’s motivation remained a mystery. Investigators concluded that the motive was retaliation against patients and their families.
On October 5, 2006, Vickie Dawn Jackson pled no contest. She was sentenced to life in prison and is currently being held at the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gaitsville, Texas, according to NBC News.