Welcome to another episode of Behind the Headlines, where we feature experts and journalists discussing a variety of topics. In this latest episode, Virginia Annable, a reporter for Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism team based in Hickory, North Carolina, discusses her story about Johnathan Howard Hayes, a nurse in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hayes stands accused of murder and attempted murder of patients in a hospital where he worked. Hayes is accused of intentionally administering a near-lethal dose of insulin to a patient in the same year he was nominated to be a nurse of distinction. He is also accused of administering similar lethal doses of insulin to two other patients in early 2022, killing both, according to Winston-Salem police. Hayes was arrested in October 2022, on one count of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of murder. Read the story NC nurse accused of killing 2 patients was family man with history of medicine mismanagement About this program Host Terry Lipshetz is a senior producer for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, he produces the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, co-hosts Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the producer of Across the Sky weather and climate podcast. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here. Episode transcript Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically: Terry Lipshetz: Welcome to another episode of behind the Headlines, where we feature experts and journalists discussing a variety of topics. I'm Terry Lipshetz, a senior producer for Lee Enterprises, and your host in this latest episode, Virginia Annable, a reporter for Lee Enterprises public service journalism team based in Hickory, North Carolina, discusses her story about Jonathan Howard Hayes, a nurse in Winston Salem, North Carolina, who is accused of killing two patients with fatal doses of insulin. Hayes was arrested in October 2022 on one count of attempted first degree murder and two counts of murder. Virginia, welcome to the program. Virginia Annable: Thank you for having me. Terry Lipshetz: Can you talk a little bit about the case, what exactly happened and where things stand at the moment? Virginia Annable: Sure, yeah. This case came to public attention in October 2022, when the district, attorney of Forsyth County and the atrium, Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, came out with a press conference and announced that they had arrested Jonathan Howard Hayes. He was a nurse at Wake Forest, and he was accused of killing two patients and attempting to kill a third. Since then, there hasn't been a lot of movement in the case, but it really caught the public's attention. Just the fact that there was this nurse who lived in the community, had been a nurse for 20 years, on the surface, seemed like everything was right. And then they were accusing him, of some pretty horrific things. So it really caught the attention of the whole state with these accusations. Terry Lipshetz: Has there been a trial date yet? What's the status? Virginia Annable: He has only appeared in court for his first appearance. They gave him no bond. And since then, there's been a couple dates set for an appearance. And it just keeps getting pushed back. It's really gotten dragged out. I mean, it's been almost a year now and, there's been very little movement on it. Jonathan Hayes is accused of killing two patients with lethal doses of insulin Terry Lipshetz: You talk a little bit about the two patients that died and also the one that survived, but what was the cause of death and what is he essentially being accused of here? Virginia Annable: The hospital gave a really thorough timeline and a lot of information into the police, and that was all detailed in the search warrant application. So we have a really good look at what happened and what the hospital is saying. Their investigation found the first accusation was Pamela Jean Little. In December of 2021, she had an overdose of insulin and had a hypoglycemic event, which is when their blood sugar drops very, very low and it can cause a coma or death. Little was lucky enough to survive, but the accusation is that Jonathan Hayes overdosed her with potentially 100 units of insulin. When the typical, largest amount you would get is twelve. Then the second patient is Gwenda Zelda Crawford. And on January 5, at least, the doctors say that she had an overdose of about 100 units of insulin. She went into a coma. They took her to the ICU. Ah. But she unfortunately passed away a few days later. And then there was a third patient, Vicky Lynn Lingerfeld. And on January 22, she also had a hypoglycemic event where her blood sugar just dropped out. They did the blood test. They believe it was again over 100 units of insulin. And she went to the ICU, but she also passed away a ...
