|
Jeffrey Lynn Feltner, a White
male, was born in 1963. His parents separated three months before
Feltner was born and he grew up living with his mother and three older
siblings in Miami. Throughout his life, Feltner was small in stature: As
a fully-grown adult, he was only 5’3” tall and weighed just over 100
pounds. As a child, he was often teased by other children because of his
size. Instead of playing with other children, Feltner preferred to stay
indoors and work on domestic activities and chores.
At the age of 16, Feltner moved with
his mother, who had remarried, and siblings to Melrose, Florida. Feltner
seemed to adjust well and made friends in the new community. He was an
average student, making mostly Bs and Cs on his report cards. During
this time, Feltner began to secretly visit homosexual locales.
After graduating from high school,
Feltner began working the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift at the same nursing
home where his mother was employed as a nursing assistant. Here, as a
nurse’s aide, his performance was so exceptional that he was quickly
promoted to aide supervisor.
In July of 1988, an anonymous caller
to a crisis line and television station confessed to killing several
residents of the nursing home. The caller identified himself as a
nurse’s aide and confessed to the mercy killings of three females and
two males. The caller also warned that he would probably kill again.
Investigators questioned Feltner, but, because of the lack of evidence,
the investigation was put on hold. At that point, the calls began again.
This time the caller confessed to the attempted murder of another
patient, but when authorities investigated the claims, there was no
evidence to support them, in fact, the evidence seemed to contradict
what the caller claimed to have done.
Nevertheless, Feltner was arrested and
charged with making harassing phonecalls, trespassing, and filing a
false report. He was found guilty on all charges and spent four months
in jail. After his release, Feltner visited his father in Michigan for a
short time and then went back to Florida.
Feltner moved to Daytona Beach and
found employment at a temporary agency for healthcare professionals. He
was employed by several nursing homes and often worked the evening shift.
Around this same time, Feltner was diagnosed with Acquired
Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). He again began making anonymous phone
calls to television stations, law enforcement agencies, and mental
health agencies. In these calls, he confessed to killing two more
patients, bringing the total of alleged murders to seven. He included
his modus operandi of asphyxiation in these conversations. Feltner also
discussed these murders with his roommate, who immediately notified law
enforcement.
After an investigation, Feltner was
arrested in August of 1989 on one charge of first-degree murder. While
under arrest, Feltner confessed to the murder. He also confessed to the
mercy killing at least one other victim at the nursing home where he was
first employed after high school. This victim’s body was exhumed, an
autopsy was performed, and the remains exhibited evidence of foul play.
Investigating the other murders
confessed through the anonymous phone calls, proved to be quite
difficult because many of the bodies had been cremated. Subsequently,
when the investigation was concluded, Feltner was charged with only two
murders.
Feltner was held without bail and,
while awaiting trial, he recanted his confessions. In a letter to his
father, he stated that his confessions were only a ploy to draw
attention to the poor conditions and neglect in nursing homes. While in
jail, Feltner intentionally cut his wrists and upper arm on separate
occasions.
During his first trial, he pled not
guilty to the first-degree murder charge. Hislawyer attempted to plea
bargain with a second-degree murder charge in exchange for a 40-year
maximum sentence, but the judge rejected it. Feltner then changed his
plea to guilty on one first-degree murder charge. He was sentenced to
life in prison, with a mandatory 25-year minimum sentence. A few days
after this sentence, he pled guilty in his second trial, to a second-degree
murder charge and was sentence to an additional 17 years in prison (“A
Nursing Aide”, 1990; Lavin, 1990; Lavin & Journey, 1990; Linedecker &
Burt, 1990).
Serial Murder In Institutional
Settings by Jennifer D. Grinea
Nurse's Aide Held In Volusia Man
Tells Police He Killed Nursing Home Patient
By Shirish Date - OrlandoSentinel.com
August 17, 1989
DAYTONA BEACH — A nurse's aide was charged with
murder Wednesday after telling police he killed a nursing home patient
last month - two years after failing to sell a similar tale to Putnam
County investigators.
Daytona Beach police arrested Jeffrey Lynn Feltner,
26, in the July 11 death of Doris Moriarty at Clyatt Memorial Center. He
is being held without bail in the Volusia County Jail on one count of
first-degree murder.
Moriarty, 83, of Port Orange, had been a Clyatt
patient for three years before dying about a month after Feltner began
working there.
Police said Feltner confessed to killing a patient in
Ormond Beach and five at a Putnam County home about two years ago. The
Putnam County Sheriff's Office said the latter claim was checked out and
discounted.
''We poked holes in everything,'' said Putnam
sheriff's Capt. Cliff Miller. ''It looks as if he was looking for
attention.''
Feltner lived above a bar on Main Street in Daytona
Beach, but was arrested at mental health crisis center he had entered
last week, police said. His journey to jail began about two weeks ago
with a call to a television station.
Kent Morton, assignment editor at WESH-Channel 2's
Daytona Beach office, said a man calling himself ''Jack'' told him that
a friend he had met in a bar had killed at least seven patients over the
past few years to ''relieve them of their pain.''
Morton said ''Jack'' called back on Aug. 9, repeating
his story. Morton said he notified Daytona Beach police after each call,
and said he encouraged ''Jack'' to do the same.
''He sounded very rational,'' Morton said. ''As it
turns out, it appears he was describing himself.''
Police got a third call on Aug. 10, from Clyatt's
administrator, William Powell. Powell said Feltner was working the night
Moriarty died and told a nurse that she ought to check on her. ''I think
what we gathered is that he looked in and saw that she had died,''
Powell said. ''That's what we thought he meant.''
Feltner failed to show up for work July 15 and 16,
and was fired, Powell said. Apart from that, Powell said, Feltner was an
excellent worker.
On Aug. 10, Powell said a nursing pool called to tell
him that Feltner's roommate had called them and said Feltner had
admitted suffocating patients. Powell said he called police immediately
afterward.
SEX: M RACE: W TYPE: S MOTIVE:
PC-"mercy
MO: Hospital nurse who
smothered patients.
DISPOSITION: Pled guilty on
two counts, receiving life term + 17 years, 1991; died of AIDS in
prison, Mar. 17, 1993.
|
