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At Montague County jail (October 20, 2006)

Nocona, TX (June 24, 2007) - Vickie Dawn Jackson was initially indicted in July, 2002 for the murder of four patients of Nocona General Hospital in Texas. One of the victims was her husband's grandfather. Law enforcement officials estimate that between December 11, 2000 and February 18, 2001, Vickie actually murdered 6 more patients. Additionally, the bodies of 10 bodies that died in December 2000 and January 2001 were also exhumed for examination, early in 2004. In addition to killing those 10, she is suspected of attempting to murder five more. Subsequently, she was charged with the death of all 10.

Jackson's trial was initially scheduled for October 2004, but was moved to San Angelo on a motion to change venue. She pled "no contest" to the charges on February 9, 2005 because her daughter's name was on the state's witness list. The prosecutor opined that not having her daughter testify against her, not being required to admit guilt and avoiding a jury trial meant something to her. She will still face life in prison, the same penalty as if she had faced the jury, and been found guilty.

Unlike other "Angels of Death" or health care serial killers (HCSK), Jackson made no attempts to appear heroic, trying to rescue the victim at the last minute. She just apparently wanted many people dead. The state provided no theory for motive and this case provide an interesting challenge to determine a profile. On the outside she was ironically cheerful and encouraging, offering aphorisms, like "Don't major in minor things" and "If you can't be on time, be early." She did not target the terminally ill or the mentally handicapped which would have given the appearance of mercy killing.

Additional posts will look at her history and her early experiences, hopefully to determine motive, which seems to be absent in this case. She was methodical in her daily routine and owned 25 nurse uniforms, pressed, but lived in a very poor neighborhood. Each day, she would order the same meal at the local Dairy Queen one hour before her shift, dressed and ready for work. She dyed her hair blonde and pulled it back neatly. She knew her work. She worked in nursing homes since high school, working her way up to nurse's aide. So, she was accustomed to tending to other people's medical needs. There was accounts where she was bitten, spit at and hit by her senile and demented patients. Could these experiences have driven her to the point of retribution? We will continue to gather more information.

[SOURCE: Texas Monthly] Recommended reading is the follow-up blog to the original story. Be sure to review the multimedia reading of the story.

CAVEAT: I have modified and condensed the original report to make it more understandable.

This case is a template for this type of crime, how evidence is gathered, analyzed and presented at trial. It is hoped that it will discover a motive and be an exemplar for similar crimes. It will be interesting to compare and contrast other crimes of this genre, especially since it seems so very different.