(ominous music)
- New information tonight on murders
Inside the va medical center in clarksburg.
- There were these unexplained deaths.
- He's not a diabetic.
Why would his sugar drop? (hospital machine flatlining)
- [narrator] veterans who risked their lives
To protect their country dying mysteriously.
- This couldn't be occurring naturally.
- [woman] something's not right.
- Investigators say those killings
Were, in fact, deliberate.
- We did not want another death on our hands.
- [narrator] investigators searching for answers-
- [narrator] in the interrogation room.
(brooding music) (clock ticking)
- [narrator] every suspect accused of a crime
Has the right to remain silent.
Many agree to be interrogated anyway,
But they can stop the interview at any moment,
Making it a race against time.
Justice hangs in the balance.
- They put their lives at risk for us,
They served their country and they deserve the very best,
And they didn't get it.
(ominous music)
- The medical center director
Contacted our 24/7-duty phone number
And indicated that the facility
Had reviewed multiple instances
Going back to January of 2018 and had identified inpatients
Who had suffered severe low blood sugar,
All of which, with the exception of one,
Had passed away shortly thereafter.
- The victims in this case were all elderly males.
They all had various health conditions.
However, the clinical expectation
Was that they were all supposed to be discharged.
Death did not appear to be imminent.
(hospital machine flatlining)
Some of the medical doctors found it unusual, first of all,
That there were multiple non-diabetic patients
That were dying of these severely low blood sugars.
- There was no logical reason why their blood sugar
Plummeted to such dangerously low levels.
(hospital machine beeping)
(liquid dripping)
(pensive music)
- We didn't really know what we were looking at.
Did we have a bad actor or multiple bad
Actors at play here, and in what capacity?
Were they employees?
Were they civilians?
Were they fellow veterans or fellow inpatients?
Or were there some sort of rational explanations
From a medical perspective?
(pensive music continuing)
- In less than 24 hours, there was a team of agents
From literally all over the country
Converging on clarksburg to launch the investigation.
(tense music)
- Within a day of
Opening their investigation,
They contacted the local fbi office and we got involved.
(tense music)
- These veteran inpatients not only suffered
These instances of severe low blood sugar
But when the countermeasure medication was administered,
They basically went into spikes of peaks and valleys
Because the blood sugar could not normalize.
- That was the major tipping point.
It shows that someone might have actually killed someone
By administering insulin.
Either someone was accidentally doing this
Or they were doing it on purpose.
- We also learned all of these patients
Were in an inpatient setting all on the same ward: Ward 3a.
We were on the clock at that point
And we really took it upon ourselves.
We did not want something bad happening
Or another death on our hands.
(somber music)
- Losing archie was really hard.
He was really kindhearted and just really generous.
I just didn't understand.
- He wanted to go home.
Dad says, "don't leave me here, take me home,"
But I didn't do it; I left him there.
That was a lotta guilt over that when he died.
(pensive music)
- He always loved the military, he loved the lifestyle.
He told us that if anything happened to him,
Where he wanted to be was the va.
He got to feeling better-
- He was talking and everything.
I mean, he was doing really good.
- We go in there and they told us
That his sugar had bottomed out.
Dad wasn't a diabetic, so it's like,
"okay, why's his sugar bottoming out?"
(hospital machine beeping)
(pensive music)
I didn't think that somebody had actually
Done something to him or anything.
I thought it was just dad...
Dad's time, you know?
(pensive music)
- George was a wonderful husband, a wonderful father.
So, he was being treated for his congestive heart failure.
He was supposed to come home on Monday.
- His levels dropped, they plummeted.
And I said, "something's not right.
"he's not a diabetic. - No.
"why would his sugar drop that low?"
- Hypoglycemia.
- I said, "daddy, it's okay.
"it's okay, you go see your mom and dad now."
But it was my father and he was suffering.
(tense music)
- We did not have a suspect
And we really had a broad scope
Of what we were trying to look at here.
We more or less kicked it into high gear,
24/7, around the clock.
- We interviewed all of the employees that worked on 3a
And also the physicians that had treated the victims.
And through timecards, work schedules,
And other records, that helped narrow down
The possible list of subjects
Or suspects that could be involved in the case.
- It quickly became apparent
There were a total of four individuals at the hospital
Out of 1,200 employees who were there
At each of the dates for these events.
(pensive music)
- Reta mays was an uncertified nursing assistant
Who worked in the medical surgical unit
That they referred to as ward 3a.
She was responsible for taking the vitals of patients,
Intake and outtake, as well as taking glucometer
Or finger-stick readings of blood sugar levels of patients.
(ominous music)
- In the initial interview,
You really just want her to do as much talking as possible
To then go back later
And impeach the information that she gave us.
- Our team was directly across the hall to just listen in.
We were putting the pieces together
To see what we could make of of what she had to say.
- She denied being in the medication room alone,
Which we knew was contradictory
With what witnesses told us previously.
And what's important there
Is that the insulin was stored in the medication room.
- Some of reta mays's co-workers on 3a
Had various accounts that stuck out to us
As far as red flags.
She more or less did not act normal
When compared to the rest of her co-workers.
There were some instances where she held patients' hands
While crying bedside with them as well too,
Which a lotta the staff indicated to us was abnormal.
(pensive music)
- Did dad die on his own or did somebody kill him?
I was just blown away, and you were angry and sad.
- We would have never ever thought
That he was not safe there.
He should be taken care of in the hospital,
And he was murdered.
I don't understand, why would someone wanna kill dad?
(pensive music)
- The team of investigators
Had identified reta mays as a subject
And removed her from patient care.
- We felt there was a lot more work to be done,
Not only confirming her
But also confirming that others were not at play.
- Could there have been anyone else involved
Or were we wrong?
We had to be sure.
- There are three other employees in the whole hospital
During each of these events
Or when we believe they took place,
So we traced back their whereabouts.
So, we looked at access records.
Using that, we were able to determine
That they couldn't have been in ward 3a
During all of those events.
- We learned that reta mays was the only 3a staff member
That was working in and around
When these hypoglycemic events occurred.
We then tried to take it a step further
And do a blind review
For all of the glucometer readings
For all staff on ward 3a.
What was alarming was reta took a disproportionate amount
Of severe low blood sugar readings
As compared to other staff members.
(vials rattling)
(ominous music)
- We learned that reta mays' husband had been in jail
During the times in which the murders took place.
Reta mays's husband would call her almost every morning
After her overnight shift ended.
- During some of these calls with her husband,
Reta indicated her struggles
With her interactions with these patients.
(tense music)
- When she returned the following shift
After having placed that call and made those comments,
The same patient suffered low blood sugars again,
Indicative of this patient being administered insulin
Two different occasions.
(eerie music)
- The patient, george shaw, ultimately died from this.
(pensive music)
Mr. Raymond golden had another nurse
Who was sitting with him,
And reta mays came in and offered to give
Her a lunch break.
And so, she sat with mr. Golden for 30 minutes
While the other nurse took lunch.
Following that is when he started to experience
The symptoms of hypoglycemia
And then ultimately never recovered
And passed away a few days later.
- It confirmed and consolidated
The investigative team's stance
That reta mays was the only suspect.
(pensive music)
- We had a special agent
From the fbi behavioral analysis unit come out.
- They offered for special agent cari robins
To participate and to conduct the interview.
- We had been prepping her for it,
Just one interviewer in the room.
- The interviewer does pay compliments to mays
That would really allow mays to agree with her
And engage her in talking.
It builds a little bit of rapport,
But it also makes reta feel
That she has the power in the conversation.
(pensive music) (clock ticking)
- She indicated that this patient
Wasn't really significant,
She wasn't really close with this patient.
However, she then proceeds to go into a lot of detail.
That's where special agent robins cued in on.
- She's looking really nervous.
Something else was going on here.
- [reporter] unauthorized injections
Of insulin proved fatal.
So far, investigation say they don't know motivation
For killing veterans.
(brooding music)
(indistinct conversation)
(clock ticking)
- [cari] yeah.
(soft tense music)
- What what saw for hours on end,
It's more or less this very subtle back-and-forth.
Reta began crying spontaneously at different points
During the course of the interview.
She also did not directly answer the questions
That were posed to her.
- It was another indicator of unusual behavior
Or behavior that made no sense
Unless you were somehow involved in the patient's death
Or if you were trying to hide something.
(tense music)
(brooding music)
(clock ticking)
- You can see she's hunched her shoulders
And drawn her arms across her body as pretty defensive.
So, to me, I think she was a panicking a little bit.
(rising suspenseful music)
(clock ticking)
(pensive music)
(pensive music continuing)
- Right after the interview, there was a major payoff
Because within a few hours
Of that end of the second interview,
She actually buys a book called, "I'm dead, now what?,"
Indicating that she's having
Potentially some suicidal thoughts.
Why, because she's just been told
She is the prime suspect in all of these cases.
- It almost gave us more fuel to figure this out,
We're gonna get to the bottom of this.
- Questions continue to be raised
After the death of a vietnam veteran
Was ruled a homicide at the va hospital in clarksburg.
- [reporter] the autopsy revealed the non-diabetic
Had been injected with insulin and died from hypoglycemia.
(tense music)
(dates clicking)
- Between the second interview in August of 2018
And October of 2019, the bulk of the investigative work
Was complete during that time period.
The investigation involved the review
Of hundreds of thousands of va employee emails,
Years worth of internet browsing activity,
A review of hundreds of hours of recorded phone calls,
A review of other electronic media
And electronic evidence as well.
- What we learned at that point in the investigation
Was that reta would talk with other staff members
On facebook messenger and they would, in real time,
Be discussing patients and what was going on on the ward,
And reta was referring to some of our victims.
"what happened to this patient who was in this room?
"and what about this patient?"
So, she was following up to see,
Essentially, did they live or did they die?
(hospital machine flatlining)
(brooding music)
- [man] and help yourself to anything-
- This occurred at the state barracks,
And reta had an appointment there
To pick up some property that the state police had of hers
For an unrelated reason.
For the two weeks leading up to this interview,
We had been preparing.
When she came into the station,
Special agent liza ludovico approached her
And asked if she would like to sit down
And hear some updates on the case.
- When it came time for the third interview,
We wanted to let her know, "we have now been able to confirm
"that nobody else did it but you."
We needed some answers.
(tense music)
- Fantastic.
- A lotta time and effort went into preparing for this,
Hoping that she would confess.
We were in an adjoining room
With the investigative team and the prosecutors,
Listening and watching to the entire interview.
If there was anything that needed to be followed up on,
Our team was ready for that.
- This interview was conducted
By special agent liza ludovico,
A former army nurse currently with the fbi.
- And this was the perfect interviewer.
This was someone who was a registered nurse herself,
She was also a veteran, and she was a trained polygrapher.
So, it was kinda the best recipe for
- Mm hmm.
An interviwer in this particular case.
- About two weeks prior to this interview,
We were working with her
To start explaining the case to her,
Putting charts together, putting files together
That would be presented to reta.
- Strategically, we placed a map of the floor
With the victims laid out,
And that was there to elicit
An emotional response,
For her to look at the people she killed.
(reta chuckling)
- Liza spent a lot of time
In the beginning of this interview
Sharing information about her
That she felt reta could relate to,
Asking reta about herself and her background, her family,
Just hours of them talking
About nothing related to this case
Other than maybe some of her work up at the hospital,
But not touching on any of these topics.
(indistinct conversation)
(clock ticking)
(indistinct conversation continuing)
- Thank you. Thank you.
(rising suspenseful music)
(pensive music)
- Watching her swearing before her grandchild's life,
And that was really indicative of a move of desperation,
That the walls were closing in.
(pensive music)
- Yeah.
- Either before she was going on shift
Or shortly thereafter, she watched various episodes
Of this "nurses who kill" docuseries on netflix.
There was one episode that detailed how, essentially,
A healthcare provider was killing patients using insulin.
(intense music)
- The atmosphere was tense.
We were watching on the edge of our seats,
Sitting down the hall, "oh, she's gonna do it.
"this is the time.
"nope, it's gonna happen."
(tense music)
(clock ticking)
- Liza placed a bible on the table in front of reta.
Just based on some of her activity with her local church,
We thought that might lead her to want to talk about it,
To feel bad about what she had done.
(intense music)
(tense music)
(indistinct conversation)
- It was obviously discouraging.
No direct admission or confession.
- So, after that third interview,
The investigative team spent their time and effort
On ensuring every loose end was tied up.
- What we were really focused on
Was strengthening the medical evidence against her.
- One of the strongest pieces of evidence that we obtained
Was from our endocrinologist,
Her analysis that in all of her years doing this,
She hadn't seen some of these severely low
Blood sugar readings.
It really cemented it for us.
(pensive music)
(dates clicking)
- I approached the defense counsel
And we started to talk about a potential plea resolution.
She was ultimately charged by what we call an information
In July of 2020.
An information is different from an indictment,
Which is returned by a grand jury.
And information is filed by the us attorney.
So, that means you've reached an agreement without a charge
That you will file this charge
And she will plead guilty to it.
I think reta mays accepted the plea deal
Because she was seeing
That the evidence was mounting against her.
She walked in off the street, pled guilty to these murders,
Was put into custody never to be released again.
- Today, a former nursing assistant
Admitting to killing seven veterans
And attempting to kill an eighth.
- [reporter] federal prosecutors say mays
Gave unauthorized injections of insulin to these patients,
Even though most were not diabetic.
(pensive music)
- Interviews were important,
Despite not obtaining a confession.
There was no eyewitness, no surveillance camera footage,
No murder weapon, no dna, no fingerprint.
Therefore, the culmination of the interviews
Strengthened the investigation.
- Although we did not get the verbal answers
And the confessions that we were looking for,
Just to be able to tap into the mindset of reta
Was just as important.
(uneasy music)
- [reporter] Tuesday, it ended for serial killer reta mays,
With seven consecutive life sentences plus 20 years
For taking the lives of veterans with insulin.
Mays sat in an orange jumpsuit as judge thomas kleeh
Called her a monster of the worst kind,
The monster that no one sees coming.
(somber music)
- That provided some sense of closure for the family,
Although it never was going to bring their loved ones back.
- There is that finality that not only is she behind bars
But that she herself uttered those words
That she did it to each of their loved ones.
- The agents were phenomenal.
They updated us constantly
And they worked feverishly on this case.
They turned over every stone.
(somber music)
- We want him to be remembered for how he lived,
The type of person he was.
- It's the little things, you know?
I miss that phone call saying, "hey, come eat supper."
He made the stew and I made chili.
So, you miss that.
I miss seeing him.
- George was my life.
I was (pausing) 18 when I met him
And we were together for 59 years.
He was just a wonderful, wonderful person...
And I miss him.