Dr. William Husel murder trial: Livestream and summary for March 16, 2022

On Mar 16, 2022

The trial of Dr. William Husel is being livestreamed each day on NBC4i.com and the NBC4 app.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The murder trial against former Mount Carmel West Dr. William Husel is scheduled to resume Wednesday after a day of testimony full of anger and tears.

Husel, 46, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of 14 ICU patients who were under his care at the former Mount Carmel West from 2015 to 2018.

Family members of some of Husel’s alleged victims took the stand Tuesday, testifying how their loved ones were treated at the former doctor’s hands.

Geraldine Brown is the partner of eight years with Brandy McDonald’s mother. McDonald is one of Husel’s alleged victims. Brown described her relationship with Brandy McDonald, saying she cared for McDonald “like she was my own.”

Brown, who was asked about McDonald’s hospital care, testified that no one from McDonald’s family gave a request that Brandy McDonald receive pain medication.

Also taking the stand was Mariah Havens, the stepdaughter of Troy Allison for 18 years before he died on July 15, 2018. Allison is another of Husel’s alleged victims.

Havens testified that her mother never gave Mount Carmel permission to remove her stepfather from the ventilator.

Defense attorney Diane Menashe questioned Havens about why she never called law enforcement or the compliance hotline at Mount Carmel West to report Allison’s death, which Havens said came without her mother’s approval. Havens said she wished she had called the police — but didn’t because she couldn’t understand what was going on at the time of Allison’s death.

Next on the witness stand was Lynn Marshall, the brother of James Timmons, one of the alleged victims of Husel. Marshall said he was “crying ecstatically” while he visited his brother in the ICU at Mount Carmel.

Timmons, a 39-year-old who arrived at Mount Carmel West suffering from compartment syndrome, died Oct. 24, 2018, after being administered 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl and several other drugs by Husel.

Marshall said when he first arrived at the hospital, a nurse instructed him that he could return to his home in West Virginia and come back to Mount Carmel on Friday, as Timmons would likely recover.

That same evening, a different nurse told him the opposite — that he “shouldn’t go far because his brother wasn’t gonna make it through the night,” Marshall testified.

Marshall said he received three requests from Mount Carmel to switch Timmons’ code status to do not resuscitate. On each request, he refused to change his order to DNR.

“I told them to save him; I wouldn’t give them a DNR order,” Marshall said.

After the third phone call, Marshall returned to Mount Carmel, where he said nurses made it seem as though there was no other option but to remove his brother from life support.

Marshall testified that although he eventually agreed to move his brother’s code status to do not resuscitate, he did not authorize the administration of 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl to his brother.

In addition to victims’ family members, more medical professionals also testified Tuesday.

Monday’s testimony included former intensive care unit nurses from Mount Carmel West who described what it was like to work with Husel.

Some ICU nurses also testified last week, saying that under Husel’s direction, they administered potentially fatal doses of fentanyl to critically ill patients. In addition, hospitalists contracted by Mount Carmel and physicians who signed the death certificates for several of Husel’s patients also testified last week.

Last Thursday, Dr. Wesley Ely, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University and pulmonary and critical care medicine specialist, returned to the stand after testifying Feb. 28, when he called the doses of fentanyl given to Husel’s patients “mind-boggling.”

During opening statements, Husel’s defense team put forth that the doctor was providing “comfort care” for patients who were reaching the end of their lives.

Attorneys have said the trial could last at least eight weeks.

Here are some of the individuals who may appear during the proceedings:

Judge