West Virginia Nursing Assistant Appoints Herself Angel of Death for Eight U.S. Military Veterans

It isn’t uncommon for elderly veterans admitted to a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital to expire of natural causes, but when a string of men admitted to a VA medical center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, died under odd circumstances, alarm bells began to ring. Despite being in their eighties and nineties, the men were all considered in good enough condition that they were on the verge of being released from the hospital’s care.

The victims in the case were Robert Edge Sr., Robert Kozul, Archie Edgell, George Shaw, W.A.H., Felix McDermott, and Raymond Golden, and Russell Posey. They were all U.S. veterans who had served their country with honor.

All but one of the men died of hypoglycemia, a dangerous drop in blood sugar. It was unusual in the fact that most of the men had no history of the illness or disease usually associated with this issue, which is most common in those who suffer from diabetes.

The deaths took place within a year’s time, between July 2017 and June 2018. Once the pattern was noted, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) brought in the FBI to help with their investigation into the situation. They were further assisted by the West Virginia State Police and the Greater Harrison Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force.

Special Agent Ashley Archibald of the FBI’s Pittsburg Field Office said that it was this “sheer number of people who were experiencing hypoglycemia that was concerning. It wasn’t a very common occurrence on this ward . . . where patients were awaiting to be released home or transferred to a nursing home.”

Investigators soon found the one thing that the eight men had in common: 46-year-old nursing assistant Reta Mays of Harrison County, West Virginia, had been working on the evening of their demise. Mays, a military veteran herself, worked the night shift at the hospital and had access to both the patients and the insulin that was injected to bring about their death.

Nursing assistants at the facility were tasked with simpler patient care such as changing linens, helping with bathing, or any other needs a patient might have that don’t require to care of a licensed doctor or nurse. Sometimes, a patient might just need company, leaving them alone in their room with a nursing assistant. Mays had been alone in the room with each of these men prior to a code being called. How the pattern wasn’t noticed sooner is a mystery that the investigation also sought to get to the bottom of and rectify.

As soon as it was discovered that Mays was the assistant on duty during every death, she was removed from duty while the investigation continued. Her immediate separation from patients may have well saved more lives from being taken.

When questioned about the deaths, May denied any part in the matter. However, she was quick to petition the court for a public defender after being questioned several times, despite not having yet been charged with a crime.

It took a team of medical experts, the FBI’s extensive laboratory staff, and behavioral analysis teams to sort out the puzzle pieces and put them together in a way that made sense of what had occurred in order to build a solid case against Mays.

In a final assault on the dignity of these men, their bodies had to undergo an autopsy. The FBI was forced to exhume their remains for forensic medical exams and then bury them again with the full military honors they were entitled to as veterans.

Special Agent Archibald expressed the difficulty of this process:

“Asking these families to let us disinter their loved ones and let us autopsy them, I think it was the hardest part of this investigation, both for the investigators and the families. They had to weigh wanting to know what happened with disturbing their loved ones. But we did it in the most respectful way possible. This was a big case and a difficult one. I don’t know if I’ll ever have another case in my career that means so much.”

VA OIG Special Agent Keith Vereb had this to say about the process:

“The forensic pathologist not only looked at the insulin injection and the remnants of insulin to help determine the cause of death but it was also just as important for us to rule out other causes for the low sugar readings, especially for the non-diabetic patients.”

In the end, a combination of scientific data, circumstantial evidence, and input from a number of outside medical experts revealed that Mays had injected all of the patients with a lethal dose of insulin that resulted in their deaths. Every test, report, and opinion was gathered with the utmost care to determine that there was no other explanation for the deaths beyond the fact that they were murdered by Mays.

It was concluded that while Mays was alone with the patients, she had injected the men with insulin she’d accessed from the hospital’s medication area. There had been no reason for any of the men to receive the injection and even if there had been, nursing assistants lack the authority to administer medications. Once she had done this, their blood sugar dropped dramatically and immediately, resulting in their death.

Despite her initial denials, in July 2020, Mays pleaded guilty to seven charges of second-degree murder and one charge of assault with intent to murder. In May 2021, she was sentenced to seven consecutive terms of life in prison and an additional 240 months for the eighth victim by U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh who presided over the case. Mays was also ordered to pay retribution totaling $172,624.96 to the victims’ families, the VA Hospital, Medicare, and insurance companies.

There doesn’t seem to be any real motive for her crimes against such vulnerable elders beyond her perhaps seeking control over them, according to Special Agent Archibald — who has also said that she hopes families can find comfort in the lengthy sentence and in knowing changes have been put into place at VA facilities across the country to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.

The case was prosecuted on behalf of the government by U.S. Attorneys Jarod J. Douglas and Brandon S. Flower. Acting U.S. Attorney Bernard has this to say after Mays’ sentencing:

“In a case where we are confronted with the horrific crimes committed by the defendant against those who gave so much of themselves to serve this country, justice is somewhat of an elusive concept. No amount of prison time will erase the pain and loss that the families of these eight brave and honorable men have experienced. These men are heroes in our community, state, and country, and deserved so much more. Mays will now spend every minute of the rest of her life where she belongs, in prison.”