Laboratory Sample Analysis Check Sheet, about 1999
The 20 potential victims in the Saldivar investigation are indicated by case numbers in the left-hand column. Those who were found to have Pavulon in their bodies are marked with a "+." Dr. Andresen also tested the soil around the caskets, and every type of embalming fluid used on the victims' bodies, to make sure there was no cross-contamination. Six exhumed patients tested positive for Pavulon. The proof was definitive—homicide had taken place. Saldivar had poisoned his victims.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
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A "lab of last resort" solving the Efren Saldivar case
"I got a hit…and it took the wind out of my lungs. It was a real homicide…The patients had died a terrible death."
—Brian Andresen, Ph.D., American forensic chemist, 2004
In 1998 a respiratory therapist at a Glendale, California hospital told police that he had ended the lives of 50 patients. Efren Saldivar stated that he had deliberately overdosed patients with pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) or succinylcholine chloride. But, when he recanted his confession, police were forced to release him for lack of evidence.
Experts then referred detectives to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Forensic Science Center, sometimes called the "lab of last resort." There, Dr. Brian Andresen said Pavulon might still be detectable in the victims' bodies. If so, police could prove that murder had been committed.
