World's Most Evil Killers - Season 6, Episode 20 - Genene Jones - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: In September 1982, Chelsea McClellan had what appeared to be a severe reaction to an inoculation
and died in a small hospital in Comfort, Texas. She was just 15 months old. Doctors couldn't work out why Chelsea had died so suddenly,
but the truth was, she'd been murdered. And her killer was the nurse who was meant to be caring for her.
When you're sick and in need and you need a doctor, the last place you think's going to happen to injure a child
or hurt a child is the medical field. And when that happens, well, it's the worst of the worst,
in my opinion. NARRATOR: The killer nurse was 32-year-old Genene Jones. And Chelsea McClellan was not her first victim.
It's believed this twisted angel of death could have taken the lives of over 50 babies and young children.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: Most are disguised in the outfit of a caring nurse, a woman who should have been there to help
to make young lives better. But she never did. She ended them. NARRATOR: Jones's arrest and trial
sent shockwaves across Texas. Her crimes had gone undetected for almost four years.
If you look at the graph of deaths that occurred at the Hospital District, Genene Jones was always on the shift
and somehow always find herself immersed in whatever happened in the death of an infant on what later became
known as the death shift. NARRATOR: Genene Jones, a killer of helpless children,
had been exposed as one of the world's most evil killers. [theme music] In January 2020, 69-year-old Genene Jones
pleaded guilty to the murder of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer. She'd already served 36 years of a life sentence
for killing 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan over three decades earlier. Proving that a nurse was killing children
by injecting them with a lethal amount of drugs was no mean feat. It was an investigation that took its toll
on Texas Ranger Joe Davis. When we go to bed at night, we were thinking about it.
When we woke up the next morning, we started investigating again, because this was a crime that we all felt like we had to solve.
This is a crime that you don't see happen normally. We had to get it done. And we'd give it our all to make it happen.
NARRATOR: Jones had begun her insatiable killing spree while working in a pediatric intensive care
unit in San Antonio, Texas. But she went undetected for almost four years. Victim advocate Andy Kahan worked with the parents
and siblings of many children who believe Jones was responsible for the death of their loved
ones. When you look back in hindsight, you can pretty much squarely say that something was irregular,
something was happening. But back then, nobody put two and two together. NARRATOR: This killer's story begins
on the 13th of July, 1950. Genene Van Jones was born in San Antonio, Texas. But at a young age, she was put up for adoption
by her birth parents. It was the start of a difficult childhood. Looking back at Jones's early life,
there is quite a lot of trauma in that adoptive family. So we see that two of her brothers died.
One died in an accident at home. Another one died of cancer. And then later on, her father died of cancer.
So there are a lot of things going on in this family unit that she does not feel in control of.
She does not feel that stability and that safety and that security. And I think that potentially is a factor that accelerated her
on the course that she took. NARRATOR: Growing up, Jones felt like she didn't belong in the family unit.
JOE DAVIS: She wasn't raised in the best conditions. She always felt, from what I could find out, that she was
the black sheep of the family. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: She would often say that she was
unwanted, that she was unloved. And I think when you hear somebody spinning that narrative, you've got to look
at the motivation behind it. So what is it that they're trying to get? They're trying to get validation.
They're trying to get attention. So we have this "poor me" character that emerges.
NARRATOR: By June 1976, Jones had been married, divorced, had two children with different fathers.
And after a brief time working at a beauty parlor, the 25-year-old was training for a new vocation.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: I think Genene Jones's choice of a career in nursing was quite a deliberate one, quite
a strategic one. So she's somebody who always felt that she was unloved, that she was unwanted.
And when you are a nurse, people are very grateful for the work that you do. They're very thankful for what you do to help them
and to help their relatives. So I think this was something about validation in this career appealed to her.
NARRATOR: In October 1978, Genene Jones began working on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit,
known as PICU, at Bexar County Hospital in San Antonio. Her former colleague, Cheri Pendergraft,
remembers meeting Jones for the first time. When she was hired on, I was in charge of orienting her
to the unit, making her feel comfortable with surroundings, where things were, what procedures we did,
and all of those things, and then also assessing her knowledge and nursing skills to make sure that she
would fulfill the requirements needed for patient care in the PICU. NARRATOR: Jones seemed interested in treating
patients hands-on. Genene took one of the advanced courses that we offered in the education and training department, one
of which included IV therapy. She became very proficient at starting IVs and liked doing procedures on patients.
Starting an IV itself requires a bit of finesse and skill because getting the tiny needle into
the tiny, tiny, little vein of a pediatric patient can be very challenging. But she became very proficient at it.
NARRATOR: Cheri found Jones to be an intense personality on the PICU ward. And sometimes her compassion came
across as eerie and extreme. It was the first or second night that she came on duty.
And there was a very small premature baby admitted who was very sick. And the likelihood of it surviving was very slim.
So we cared for the baby for a few hours, and it passed away. And Genene asked me if she could hold the baby.
And I said, well, yes, which I thought was kind of unusual. But I thought, maybe she felt deep compassion for the baby
because this was her first exposure to this particular kind of incident where a baby died.
And so she took the baby over to the corner of the PICU and sat in the rocking chair and rocked the baby for, I think,
about an hour and was sobbing. And I just thought that was an unusual reaction to the death
of a very tiny, tiny premature baby that she had no attachment to. She hadn't had time to form any attachment to it.
NARRATOR: The longer Jones was in the role, the more difficult she became. And she seemingly had ideas above her station.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Jones was a licensed vocational nurse. So this is more of a nursing assistant type role.
And it contrasts with a registered nurse, who is a fully qualified certified nurse.
And I think Jones always felt entitled to more. She was never happy and content with what she had.
She always had to go further. But she would step over the line. She would push the boundaries in ways that were
unprofessional and unethical. She was crass and foul mouthed. And she came across as arrogant and know-it-all a lot of times.
And some of the nurses really did not like that. She would be making decisions that registered nurses
would normally be making. And those were things that she shouldn't really have been doing.
So that sense of entitlement, that sense of grandiosity is there from the very beginning.
NARRATOR: Cheri clashed with Jones on more than one occasion during her time at Bexar County Hospital.
On one particular night shift, Cheri came to relieve Jones from a traumatic situation,
but her reaction was far from professional. CHERI PENDERGRAFT: I went and put my things down in the back
and came into the room, where Genene was performing CPR on a little, maybe eight-year-old boy or so
who had been a near drowning. She had been working for 16 hours at that point and/or a little bit more than.
And she was due to come back the next morning for another shift. NARRATOR: But a clearly exhausted Jones refused
to hand over control to Cheri. And she said no, I'm performing CPR. And I said no, you--
I can take over. I'm perfectly capable of performing CPR and taking over. So you really need to go home.
And she refused. And she yelled at me. And so I called the nursing house supervisor,
told her the situation. And she came down and told Genene that she needed to leave
and go home and get some rest. She stormed out of the room. I took over CPR. She went and grabbed her things.
And then she stormed out of the ICU, swearing and yelling, which I thought was a strange sort of overreaction
and a possessiveness of the patient situation at that time, not wanting to relinquish.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: She wants attention. She feels entitled to attention. She likes drama.
She thrives on it. She's somebody who wants to be center stage. And I think that is the motivation here.
She's always entitled to more. She always wants to create a drama and place herself right in the middle of it.
NARRATOR: Cheri Pendergraft had no idea that her colleague's lust for drama had,
in fact, turned deadly. And a staff logbook would soon reveal an unnatural number
of infants were dying on the PICU Ward at Bexar County Hospital whenever Genene Jones was working.
No child was safe on the death shift. In the early 1980s, Genene Jones was working
as a nurse on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Bexar County Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Her colleagues had begun to notice that the infant death rate would rise whenever she was on the wards.
Jones used to work a late shift, 3:00 PM until 11:00 PM. And this shift became known as the death shift
because for a period of around 15 months, people were 10 times more likely to die
during this period of time than any other period of time. NARRATOR: One baby who survived his time on the death shift
was four-week-old Rolando Santos, who arrived on the ward in December 1981. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He had some issues with pneumonia,
some breathing problems. And he was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
And he becomes even more unwell when he's in there. And he starts to bleed from a site
where he's previously had an injection. Now a doctor ordered some tests to be carried out.
And they come back positive for heparin, which is a blood thinner. And this doctor ordered Rolando to be taken off the Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit. And this was a decision that actually saved this child's life.
NARRATOR: A staff logbook was used to record Rolando's near death experience and a host
of other similar incidents. The abnormal spike in the death rates was highlighted by the colleagues
of nurse Cheri Pendergraft. CHERI PENDERGRAFT: Several of the nurses in the PICU
called my attention to the logbook one day when we were sitting in the nursing station.
And they noticed that there was a higher than usual mortality rate. And so I looked at the logbook.
And yes, there did seem to be a higher mortality rate during that time. And it seemed to have happen mostly on the 3:00 to 11:00
shift. More of the deaths occurred on the 3:00 to 11:00 shift, according to the logbook.
NARRATOR: Cheri took the logbook to her superiors, but her concerns fell on deaf ears.
CHERI PENDERGRAFT: At that point in time, it was at the discretion of the head nurse.
And if she didn't see anything worth investigating-- because she trusted all her nurses.
So I don't think that she saw any particular reason to investigate it any further other than my
bringing it to her attention. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: The hospital managers and administrators will say, well, show me the proof,
but there is no proof. But doctors and nurses, their intuition is really well honed.
And it's not some mystical thing. It's a thing that's based on experience and expertise.
As somebody with compassion, as somebody who relates very well to other people, you can pick up when
somebody is not quite right. And those are warning signs that really should have been heeded here.
NARRATOR: The lack of scrutiny of the hospital records stunned victim advocate Andy Kahan
when he became involved in the case decades later. When the Bexar County Hospital District
decided to actually take some action involving the high rate of infant mortality death, they didn't
call for an investigation. They didn't bring, you know, the police department down there.
They didn't come take statements. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: They wanted to sweep this under the carpet.
So all of the licensed vocational nurses were replaced with registered nurses. Jones was offered another position in the hospital.
But she chose to resign instead. And I think at this point, she realizes that the net is closing in, and she needs to move on.
ANDY KAHAN: And so Genene Jones was, for all intents and purposes, now no longer working
at the Hospital District. And as a result of her no longer working there, gee, guess what?
All of a sudden, the deaths declined. Wow, what a fascinating coincidence. So as far as the Bexar County Hospital District goes,
they're out of it. I think at this point in time, she feels absolutely untouchable.
I think there's a part of her that realizes that this is a PR job. This is the hospital trying to make the problem go away.
And it suits her down to the ground. NARRATOR: Cheri Pendergraft had no idea she'd been working
alongside a woman who was intentionally harming babies in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit,
the one place children were meant to feel safe. CHERI PENDERGRAFT: It's difficult to believe
that I worked with someone who became so evil. To take the lives of other people's children
for their own attention seeking or goals is just beyond comprehension for a normal person.
But we're not talking about a normal person here. So it has affected me in the sense that I worked with her,
and I wish that I had become aware of something that may have stopped her from progressing.
We just had no evidence of any direct connection with kids dying on Genene Jones's watch.
And I think it was beyond our comprehension that anything like that could even happen on our watch.
NARRATOR: In March 1982, Genene Jones left Bexar County Hospital. And five months later, she started another job
60 miles northwest of San Antonio at a new pediatric clinic in the small town of Kerrville, Texas.
At the time of this investigation, it was approximately 20,000 people were located off Interstate 10, about 60 miles west
of San Antonio. It's mainly a retirement town. NARRATOR: In September 1982, a case landed on Joe's lap that
would change the town forever. JOE DAVIS: I was in my office when I received a telephone
call from an investigator for the Board of Nursing in Austin. Tony Howell, who was a hospital administrator at Sid Peterson
Hospital in Kerrville, had advised him that they had started investigation on a nurse and doctor who was having several babies were
coming into the emergency room. They had never witnessed this before in Kerrville.
And one of the babies had died. And during the conversation with the investigator, he told me,
he said, Joe, I think you have a child killer in Kerrville. NARRATOR: All the babies had come into the hospital
via the new pediatric clinic in town run by Dr. Kathleen Holland, who was assisted by nurse Genene Jones.
It was Jones's behavior in the aftermath of the revelations that focused Joe's attention on her.
He had told me also that Genene Jones had come in to the hospital the day before
and apparently, had tried to commit suicide, only they were kind of suspicious of that.
From what she had taken, it wasn't that serious. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: When the investigation gets underway,
Jones stages a suicide attempt. So she ingests some drugs which are nowhere near
enough to bring about her death, but they're enough to create the illusion that she's
tried to take her own life. And when we look at the impact of this kind of behavior,
it's going to bring you quite a lot of sympathy, quite a lot of attention. You'll get considerable compassion from other people.
So I think it was that outcome that she was interested in. This was not a serious attempt to end her life.
NARRATOR: Joe went to meet Jones at the hospital to get her side of the story. JOE DAVIS: So I told her I'd like
to go ahead and interview her at that time since she's there at the hospital. So he arranged for me to go to a conference
room in the hospital. And they brought Genene Jones in. And that's when I first met her and started
an interview with her over the investigation. NARRATOR: For the first time, Genene Jones was
under investigation for murder. JOE DAVIS: I was in the conference room when they brought Genene Jones in.
And I identified myself as a Texas Ranger and told her I was there to investigate some emergencies
that were coming into the hospital from their office, and that one of the babies that were brought in had died.
And so I started interviewing her regarding the emergencies. NARRATOR: Throughout the brief discussion,
Jones didn't flinch. JOE DAVIS: She didn't seem upset. She was pretty cool and collected,
answered the few questions I had for her, and was cooperative with me at that time.
NARRATOR: But something told Joe it wouldn't be the last time he'd crossed paths with Genene Jones.
JOE DAVIS: Before I left, I asked her. I said, OK, I'm going to start an investigation.
And would you be willing to take a polygraph test in the near future? And she said she would.
So I told her I would be getting back with her later when I had more information.
And she agreed, OK. And that, more or less, ended the interview at that time with her.
NARRATOR: With no evidence against her, Genene Jones was free to leave the hospital.
Joe Davis's detective instincts, however, told him that everything was not as it should be.
He was certain Jones was involved, and now he had to prove it. In September 1982, nurse Genene Jones
was working at a new clinic in the town of Kerrville, Texas. She'd taken a job with pediatrician Dr. Kathleen
Holland, who, like Jones, had previously worked at Bexar County Hospital in San Antonio.
A number of suspicious infant collapses had led detectives to speak to Genene Jones.
And next on their radar was Dr. Holland. JOE DAVIS: During the interview with Dr. Holland,
she told me and I found out that when these patients were brought in by their mothers, these young infants,
Genene Jones would say, let me take the baby back to the back, so y'all can talk.
So the babies may be crying or making some noises. And not long after the baby was taken to the back,
Genene Jones would holler out, oh, the baby stopped breathing! I need an emergency.
Come back quick! We need to call an ambulance. NARRATOR: Dr. Holland was ruled out as a suspect.
And attention turned solely to Genene Jones. One of the babies who had fallen ill at the clinic
was Chelsea McClellan. Victim liaison officer Andy Kahan got to know Chelsea's mother, Petti,
in the aftermath of the case. She'd taken her 15-month-old daughter for some routine inoculations in September 1982.
ANDY KAHAN: Petti pretty much told me the story of what happened. I mean, she just brought Chelsea to the clinic.
She was only 15 months old. It wasn't anything really serious going on with Chelsea.
And the next thing she knows, all of a sudden, you know, there's a code blue with Chelsea.
NARRATOR: Just like the other children, Jones had volunteered to give Chelsea her injections.
Sat facing Petti McClellan, Jones had Chelsea on her lap and injected her twice, once in each leg,
before the 15-month-old began struggling to breathe. An ambulance took Chelsea to the emergency room
at the Sid Peterson Hospital in Kerrville, where her conditions seemed to improve.
But now, back in the ambulance, Chelsea suddenly deteriorated again. JOE DAVIS: One of the nurses had actually seen Genene Jones
before the ambulance left the hospital in Kerrville give the baby another shot as the doors were shutting.
But on the way, she and an attendant was in the back when Chelsea went into cardiac arrest.
Dr. Holland was following in a car. They immediately pulled over, tried to revive her.
Dr. Holland said let's take her in to the hospital in comfort. And that's where she passed away.
NARRATOR: Genene Jones had brazenly murdered Chelsea McClellan in front of her own mother.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: When we look at Chelsea's murder, we can see that Jones was absolutely determined
to end this little girl's life. So when she gave her these so-called routine immunizations
and she became incredibly unwell, but they didn't kill her, Jones made sure that she was in the ambulance with this child
on the way to the hospital. She wanted to finish the job. How personal that must be to have a infant in your hands
and taking a needle and knowing full well that you're taking their life. That's about as cold-blooded, diabolical as you can get.
NARRATOR: Despite Jones's actions, nobody was aware that she was responsible for Chelsea's
death. The drug that Jones administered to Chelsea was a drug that essentially disappears
without a trace when it's entered into the body of somebody. So an autopsy is not able to establish
what the cause of death is. So sudden infant death syndrome is entered on the death certificate.
ANDY KAHAN: And I know for Petti, it was like, I brought my child in. You know, there wasn't anything serious going on,
and now she's dead. And so she started questioning. And she brought up a lot of questions.
And she brought this to the attention of the Kerrville County District Attorney's Office, who eventually
opened up an investigation. NARRATOR: As part of a deeper look into the death of Chelsea
McClellan and the other collapses coming out of the clinic, Detective Joe Davis visited
Dr. Kathleen Holland once more. She'd spotted some superficial damage in a vial of a drug
called succinylcholine, an anesthetic muscle relaxant. GEOFFREY WANSELL: Dr. Holland notices
that the vial of succinylcholine has got puncture marks in the top. And she knows that she hasn't used it.
And so, obviously, it has to be Jones because they were the only two people with the key.
JOE DAVIS: Two bottles, one was capped and one was uncapped. And then the top of that one bottle that was uncapped
was several puncture holes, needles, as if they were taking that drug out-- somebody was.
However, the bottle appeared to be full. So I told her at that time, I needed that bottle
to have it checked to make sure that the drug was still in there or what was in that bottle,
or if it'd been refilled. NARRATOR: The results proved to be a huge turning point in the investigation.
JOE DAVIS: They checked it and notified me later that it was a saline solution. It was not the drug that was supposed to be in it.
It looked like it had been refilled. And so that indicated that maybe the whole bottle
had been used in some of these emergencies, was good to know. You know, in courtrooms and in law enforcement,
there's, like, a smoking gun. That's kind of what it's called. And the smoking gun was that tiny, little puncture wound in
that bottle of succinylcholine. NARRATOR: A search into her background meant the finger of suspicion suddenly began
to point directly at Jones. I found out also that Genene Jones had taken a class in San
Antonio strictly on the use of this drug while she was there being a nurse. She asked for that class and learned the ins and outs
of administering that drug. So she was very familiar with it before she came to Kerrville
and what doses to use. NARRATOR: Joe scoured the world for a way to prove that succinylcholine was used to murder Chelsea.
He found a doctor from Sweden who'd developed a way to identify the supposedly undetectable
drug in body tissue. But that meant investigators had to make a difficult decision.
On the 7th of May, 1983, with the permission of her parents, Chelsea McClellan's body was exhumed.
JOE DAVIS: When they exhumed Chelsea and opened the casket, I was present. It was amazing that she looked like a little doll
laying there. Had her bonnet on, and her favorite toy was a little duck. It was really a sad moment for all of us to witness.
NARRATOR: The body tissue was examined in Stockholm. And the results showed conclusively
that dangerously high levels of succinylcholine were present in Chelsea McLellan.
She had been callously murdered by the nurse who was meant to be helping her. JOE DAVIS: After we found the drug, of course,
we knew that Genene Jones had been lying to us. And she had been observed also by another nurse,
as I previously stated, giving another shot when Chelsea went down. And it all indicated, based on all the evidence now,
that she was, in our minds, guilty. NARRATOR: On the 25th of May 1983, Genene Jones was arrested for the murder
of Chelsea McClellan. But the 32-year-old nurse denied any wrongdoing. JOE DAVIS: I took Genene Jones down first to be
examined on the polygraph. And questions were asked regarding the investigation and her contact with the patients.
And did she do anything to injure them or give her any substance or anything? And she actually failed the polygraph.
Based on the questions asked there, she did not pass. I tried to talk to her more, but she just, being who she was,
she slammed the polygraph's wrong. I didn't do nothing wrong, and maintained that she was innocent of anything to those babies.
NARRATOR: In February 1984, Genene Jones was on trial for murder. In her defense, Jones argued that she'd
used succinylcholine, on Chelsea McClellan appropriately and denied trying to kill her.
ANDY KAHAN: I mean, this is a complicated case. This is 1984. You know, there's a lot of medical jargon that has--
going around for the jury to comprehend. But I'll tell you what. This jury saw right through.
And when people were testifying in the courtroom, I mean, there wasn't really a dry eye in the courtroom.
The only dry eye in the courtroom was Genene Jones, who didn't show any emotion, anything.
NARRATOR: Jones was found guilty and sentenced to 99 years for murder. In October 1984, Jones was found guilty once more for attempting
to kill Rolando Santos at Bexar County Hospital between December 1981 and January 1982.
She was given another 60-year sentence that would run concurrently to the 99 years
she was already serving. GEOFFREY WANSELL: It took the jury no time to become completely convinced that she had, indeed, set out
to kill both Chelsea and Rolando in a heartless, cruel manner, thereby trying to make herself look, at one moment, savior,
at the next moment, killer. It is a dreadful conceit and evidence of pure wickedness.
NARRATOR: Genene Jones was finally in prison. But under Texas legislation, she was due to be freed in 2018.
Outraged by the impending release date, a group of relatives who are certain Jones
had killed their loved ones came together to fight the injustice. They wanted to keep Genene Jones behind bars for good.
By 2017, convicted baby killer Genene Jones had served 33 years in prison for murder.
But her time inside was coming to an end. Legislation put in place to ease the overpopulation
of prisons in Texas meant she would soon be free. Court reporter Elizabeth Zavala followed the latest chapter
in the story of the killer nurse. ELIZABETH ZAVALA: Because of that law to ease prison crowding, Genene Jones
would have been eligible for parole in March of 2018. And for people in the San Antonio community, Bexar
County, South Texas, even, they just didn't want to see a convicted baby killer like Genene Jones be released out into the public.
NARRATOR: The fight for justice was spearheaded by the mother of Genene Jones's murder
victim, Chelsea McClellan. Petti McClellan-Wiese had refused to give up the fight over the years
whenever Jones was up for parole. Petti would go to the parole board hearings. And she made it a point to be there every time
and argue for Genene Jones to stay behind bars. She was very passionate about that because of her own child's
death, but also Petti felt very protective of the San Antonio mothers. NARRATOR: Mothers in San Antonio who'd lost babies
at Bexar County Hospital during Jones's time there all believe their children could have been
murdered by the killer nurse. Victim advocate Andy Kahan worked with Petti McClellan-Wiese to find some new cases.
ANDY KAHAN: We ended up actually forming a Facebook group, a closed Facebook group called Victims of Genene Anne Jones.
And that's how we communicated. And we started hearing from other families. Their infants also died under, quote, "the death shift."
And that's how we started getting other people involved and other families involved.
And it just spiraled from there. NARRATOR: With the help of Petti and Andy Kahan,
District Attorney Joe Gonzales identified a handful of potential victims. We had five separate indictments,
the strongest of which was the case involving young Joshua Sawyer. And I will tell you that the reason that that case was
the strongest case that we had was because of his mother, Connie Weeks. She had kept meticulous records of her child
going to the doctor. Had it not been for her, I don't believe we would have been able to prosecute Genene Jones the way
we did. NARRATOR: 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer had died at Bexar County Hospital while Jones was working in the Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit. Joshua Sawyer was brought into the hospital in December in 1981, because there'd been a fire in his home,
and he'd experienced some smoke inhalation. And that shouldn't have been the end of his life.
But he had a cardiac arrest when he was in the hospital. And it transpired that he had a huge amount
of anti-seizure medication in his system, way more than the normal range. NARRATOR: Joshua Sawyer had been injected
with a deadly amount of Dilantin, an anti-seizure medication. And so the effect that it would have had
was a violent effect on his body, I think, on the muscles. Basically, it was an overdose of Dilantin.
And so that's what caused the death of Joshua Sawyer. NARRATOR: A series of hearings followed in which it was
decided that the new charges could be brought against Genene Jones, much to the relief of Petti
McClellan-Wiese and Andy Kahan. I was floored. And it was quite an emotional day, obviously, for Petti.
It was emotional for me, who had been involved with this for so long, to see her charged and to know, at least, right now, she
wouldn't be legally released because she was brought back to Bexar County Jail and held in custody under a $1 million
bond, pending the charges. NARRATOR: Jones would remain behind bars until a new trial date was set.
Unfortunately, Petti McClellan-Wiese would not get to see justice served for a second time.
She passed away in June 2019 at the age of 64. ANDY KAHAN: I remember getting a call.
And sadly, at this time, Petti had passed away. And that was-- I was just so saddened by her sudden passing.
And she didn't get to live to see the culmination of her efforts, or culmination of efforts
lived through other families that she brought together. And she was kind of like the godmother of this group.
And everyone looked up to her. NARRATOR: Suddenly, as preparations were being made
for the trial, word came through that Genene Jones had agreed to a plea bargain.
She would plead guilty to the murder of Joshua Sawyer in exchange for a life sentence and the other four cases
to be dropped. She was due to confirm this at a San Antonio courthouse in January 2020.
ANDY KAHAN: And keep in mind, at that time, Jones could change her mind at any moment,
because she's the one who agreed to the deal. And the deal was she would plead guilty to the one murder.
And the other charges would be dropped. There's always a little apprehension that this
isn't going to happen. And when she finally had pled guilty, it was quite a sense of relief for everybody there that day.
NARRATOR: Genene Jones had finally admitted to killing at least one baby under her care.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Has she suddenly developed a conscience? Does she suddenly feel compassionate for her victims
and their relatives? No, I don't think so whatsoever. I think what's going on here is she's trying to prevent
a trial from taking place because during a trial, a lot of information becomes known about you.
And she would not want that information to become known. So she is essentially taking back control
by putting in this guilty plea. JOE GONZALES: I actually looked to see whether or not
she had any reaction. I never saw any tears in her eyes. I never saw any indication of any remorse,
which is pretty indicative of your cold-blooded serial killers. Here, you had a lady that, as far as I'm concerned,
was evil incarnate. She was a woman who made a point of ending infants' lives. And she didn't appear to have any remorse.
She never indicated in court that she was sorry for what she did. NARRATOR: In January 2020, Genene Jones
was given another life sentence for the murder of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer. JOE GONZALES: Genene Jones was sentenced to life in prison,
which means that she will have to serve the sentence until 2038. That is the first opportunity that she
has to be eligible for parole. Now she will be about 87 years old at that time. And so we suspect that she may not make it,
or if she does, that her parole will be denied. We believe that she will spend her very last breath in prison.
I think that the families feel they have justice. The one thing that was always constant with each family
member of one of these children was that they wanted for Genene Jones to die in prison.
NARRATOR: Genene Jones has officially been found guilty of two murders, but experts suggest
the real number of deaths caused by her deadly injections could be somewhere between 40 and 60.
But her continued silence means we may never know the full story. Families will be wondering for generations
whether or not they lost their loved ones at the hand of this cold killer. ANDY KAHAN: When I look back at Jeanine Jones's reign
of terror, I get angry and so upset and very emotionally drained because look at who her victims were.
These were infants. None of her victims could run, yell, scream for help. They were at her mercy.
And they were with someone whom families believed they could trust. JOE DAVIS: When somebody in the medical field
takes advantage of especially a young baby that can't talk and say what happened and tell the story
of what Genene Jones did when she took the baby to the back, and-- pretty bad. And it's people that you trust with your own kid
to help that kid get well. And they ended up causing its death. What could be worse than that?
[music playing] NARRATOR: Jones was a cold-hearted killer. She took the lives of young children
who did not have the voice or strength to fight against her. To intentionally harm a child is a callous act,
but to do it under the guise of a caring nurse is abhorrent. And that's why Genene Jones will forever
be remembered as one of the world's most evil killers. [music playing]

The chilling story of the serial killer who worked as a nurse in Texas, where she killed many children and infants by injecting them with drugs.

An in-depth look at the lives and crimes of some of the world's most evil killers. New episodes including Lee Ford, Pawel Relowicz, John Shaw, John Allen Muhammad, Derrick Todd Lee and more.

Brief Summary

Genene Jones, a nurse, murdered infants, including Chelsea McClellan, and was sentenced to life for her crimes.

Key points

The Tragic Death of Chelsea McClellan. Chelsea McClellan, just 15 months old, died suddenly, leading to a shocking investigation.
Genene Jones: The Killer Nurse. Genene Jones, a nurse, was revealed to have murdered multiple infants under her care.
The Death Shift. A spike in infant deaths occurred during Genene Jones's shifts, raising alarms among staff.
The Tragic Deterioration of Chelsea McClellan. Chelsea's condition worsens after receiving injections from Genene Jones, leading to her tragic death.
The Smoking Gun Evidence. A vial of succinylcholine with puncture marks becomes crucial evidence against Genene Jones.
The Fight for Justice Continues. Petti McClellan-Wiese tirelessly advocates against Genene Jones's release from prison.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is a crime that you don't see happen normally.

Texas Ranger Joe Davis on the investigation.

3:03WatchAug 10, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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