Amber Willard
BURBANK COURTHOUSE -- A Superior Court judge Friday granted the city
of Glendale's request to seal documents related to the police
department's "angel of death" murder investigation.
Judge Carl West's approval means details of the investigation into
Efren Saldivar's alleged mercy killings of terminally ill patients at a
local hospital will not be made available to the media and attorneys
involved in a civil lawsuit.
West ordered the city, represented by Senior Asst. City Atty. Carmen
Merino, to provide a list of the documents it wants sealed. West will
decide if any documents on the list are not privileged and release a
revised list to defense attorneys.
Saldivar, who confessed to killing patients as a respiratory therapist
at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and later recanted, is being sued by
the Glendale-area family of John Schwartz. Schwartz died while under
Saldivar's care.
Saldivar's attorney, Terry Goldberg, is seeking autopsy and toxicology
reports and a deposition from Glendale Police Det. William Currie. The
city filed a request to seal the documents because the investigation,
which started more than two years ago, is ongoing.
"It cannot go on indefinitely," West said of the investigation.
The case is set to return to court in Burbank on Oct. 20 for a hearing
on Goldberg's request for documents.
