TYLER, Texas — A Smith County jury sentenced an ex-East Texas nurse to death for killing patients at a Tyler hospital after about two hours of deliberation.
On Oct. 19, a Smith County jury found William George Davis, 37, of Hallsville guilty of capital murder in connection with the deaths of:
- John Lafferty
- Ronald Clark
- Christopher Greenaway
- Joseph Kalina
The jury found Davis murdered the patients at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital by injecting air into their arterial systems while working as a nurse.
Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman is expected to hold a press conference after the judge dismisses the jury.
RECAPPING THE SENTENCING PHASE
In a phone call to his ex-wife following the guilty verdict, Davis said because money was tight, he would find ways to prolong ICU patients’ stays. He said he would hurt patients so they would be sicker. He would then be able to work more hours and make more money.
During the punishment phase of the trial, a United States Secret Service special agent said Davis viewed an online article titled, "List of serial killers by number of victims," about a month before his arrest in 2018.
Agent John Day said he analyzed a laptop with a username that was connected to Davis. The analysis showed the searches made on the computer and saved on the hard drive.
Day said the user either started searching "Mother Frances hospital" or fully searched “Mother Frances hospital investigating possible serial killer” on March 16, 2018.
Someone on the same laptop viewed the Wikipedia article with a list of serial killers that same day and looked at an article about serial killers on a cable news website, Day said.
This is a developing story and CBS19 will update this article as more information becomes available.
