January 9, 2025 • 41 mins
Henrico County Police Detective Megan Lynch responded to Henrico Doctors' Hospital regarding a 5-month-old male in the NICU found with a fractured left femur.
Further examination revealed the child also had a fractured right tibia and multiple rib fractures. Investigators noted similarities between these injuries and those suffered by four males in the NICU during the previous summer.
Following the earlier unexplained injuries, the hospital installed surveillance cameras throughout the NICU. Detective Lynch reviewed the surveillance footage and reported her findings. On November 10, Nurse Erin Strotman was recorded in the room with the baby identified as "Y.H." in hospital records. The footage showed Strotman grabbing Y.H. by the legs and applying pressure, placing her weight on them, and pushing the baby's legs backward until his feet reached his head. The video shows Y.H. crying and appearing to be in distress.
Seven potential abuse cases are now under investigation, and police say more may be uncovered. Henrico County investigators are reviewing hundreds of hours of surveillance footage to piece together the events. Reports indicate that at least three affected families attended Strotman's court appearance. One father, speaking publicly, stated that another couple reported their child had suffered 12 fractures.
Strotman has been formally charged in one baby's case, with the investigation ongoing. Her public defender stated that she has not yet entered a plea. Strotman remains in custody without bail, and her next court appearance is set for March 24
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Dominique Hackey - Father of infant injured in PNCU
- Greg Morse - Partner : King Morse, PLLC. Current CJA counsel, Former West Palm Beach Public Defender's Office. Author: "The Untested" found on Amazon, website: kingmorselaw.com
- Dr. John Delatorre – Licensed Psychologist and Mediator (specializing in forensic psychology); Psychological Consultant to Project Absentis: a nonprofit organization that searches for missing persons; Twitter, IG, and TikTok – @drjohndelatorre
- Barry Hutchison Sr. – Former Law Enforcement, Owner & Chief Investigator for Barry & Associates Investigative Services LLC
- Dr. William Morrone – Chief Medical Examiner, Bay County Michigan, Author: “American Narcan: Naloxone & Heroin-Fentanyl Associated Mortality”
- Dave Mack (AL) Investigative Reporter Crime Online
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a so called angel of
pain stalking the halls of the nick You the.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Newborn I see You Unit.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
That's the suspicion after seven newborns, just tiny baby infants
suffer unexplained broken.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Bones while in the hospital.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Joining us tonight the father of two of those babies,
I'm Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
This is crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Nick You nightmare infants with broken bones? What happened to
these premi babies?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Premature babies?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I know I had two of them, and they survived
only because of the nurses and doctors in the nick
You They would have died if it had not been
for the North Side Hospital nick You unit after an
emergency delivery. Sadly that was not the case with many
(01:08):
many other parents that we particular hospital who would take
a baby's bones, an infant, a newborn, and break and
fracture their bones as they lie there helpless. First of all,
take a listen to this.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
It is a burden and a huge responsibility and also
a privilege to be able to care for these children
at their most vulnerable states, and these families in their
most vulnerable states, many many of them have gone through
all kinds of toil and trouble just trying to get pregnant,
and then to deliver early or to have complications during delivery.
(01:51):
It's just heart wrenching for these families to not be
able to go through a natural birth process and take
your child home with you believe them in the care
of others who you really don't know. You have to
trust them, you do.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You have to trust them, and sadly that trust was
misplaced in the case of at least seven Kneeborns that
we know. If think about it, a kneeborn baby premature,
lying there, defenseless, mom and dad have gone home, no
one there to care for them except for the staff
(02:26):
in the nick U. Did an angel of pain stalk
the halls preying on defenseless infants?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Listen?
Speaker 5 (02:38):
Henriiko County Police Detective Megan Lynch responds to Henriiko Doctor's
Hospital in reference to a five month old male in
the nickqu found to have a fractured left femur. When
the child is examined further, it is determined he also
has a fracture.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Of the right tibia and multiple rib fractures.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
The detective has told the injuries are similar to injuries
suffered by four males in the Nicku in the summer
of the previous year.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Oh my Stars, there.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Were other infants that had mysterious broken and fractured bones before,
and nobody did anything joining me, the father Dominic Hackey
is with us.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Mister Hackey, thank you for being with.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
Us, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
When you first of all, tell me how did you
learn about the injuries?
Speaker 7 (03:26):
It was seemingly normal Sunday, Me and my wife walked
into the nick you expecting from my wife to be
able to do skin to skin with our son for
the second time, and that's when we were told that
a nurse had observed discoloration in.
Speaker 6 (03:45):
His left leg.
Speaker 7 (03:46):
He wasn't moving it quite as much as the right one,
so they had gotten an X ray and determined that
he had a tibia fracture.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Mister Hackey, when you learned almost Stars, I'm looking at
the video you gave us control room. Can I see
that video again? This looks just like my John, David
and Lucy when they were in Niki. They had all
these cords, all these going in some of them the
(04:17):
tubes go in the nose and come out the foot.
They are completely helpless, Dominique, When you learned your baby boy,
your infant, your PREMI had a fracture of the leg
and that one of the legs wasn't moving, did you
(04:40):
think someone had done that to your baby or that
somehow this happened during childbirth.
Speaker 7 (04:46):
I knew it didn't happen during childbirth. My wife had
an emergency c section like yourself. I watched every minute
of that. I watched how he was pulled out. I
watched everything after that. He wasn't pulled out by its legs.
Nothing that in childbirth would have caused this. But it
did take a minute for us to process what was happening.
(05:10):
Our other son, Micah, was very, very sick. We had told,
we were being told that we were going to lose
him twice at that point, so we were just overwhelmed
with emotions. We had talked to the doctor on staff
that day. We weren't really given any answers on to
how this happened. And honestly, after we were told what
we were told and spoke to the doctors on staff,
(05:32):
I told my wife we need to leave because I
needed to take time outside of that hospital to process
what was happening. And I had already at that time
reached out to my mom, who was then, you know,
texting me a million times back to back. This isn't right.
You need to call Child Protective Services. This shouldn't be happening.
(05:53):
I don't feel safe with my grandson in there, so
I needed to get out of the hospital, call her
and kind of get get my feet to where we
needed to go next. So it was a lot in
that moment to process.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Mister Hackey, you stated they had already told you what twice.
Speaker 7 (06:10):
That our son, Micah was gonna pass away just due
to the complications with my wife's pregnancy. He had low
fluid at sixteen weeks, which caused him to have a
lot of respiratory distress. So at that time, Micah was
on a ventilator, an oscillator, hooked up to so many
different machines. But Noah was our strong baby. He was
(06:32):
perfect from the moment that he came out. He needed
very little respiratory help.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
So we had hope.
Speaker 7 (06:41):
He was our hope, i should say, because he came
out so strong and nothing wrong with him, and you know,
we just wanted the same for our other son as well.
So we were very heartbroken to learn that our healthy
baby now is not healthy and nobody can tell us why.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And when you talk to the doctor, mister Hackey, the doctor,
did he he she avoid the fracture or did they
try to say, hey, maybe it was this, maybe it
was that. We don't know what happened, or do they
just not talk about it.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
They initially told us that it could have been done
from an injection that was given, maybe too too rough
or too hard. So they were going to implement some
trainings so that the nurses could be able to give
injections correctly. And that's kind of the only explanation that
was given. And I want to make it perfectly clear.
(07:35):
Bone density, vitamin deficiency, brittle bone syndrome was never ever
brought up in our case. It was never questioned, it
was never it was never a factor for us. So
that it's without without a doubt that somebody at this
hospital did it. Because as soon as we were told
(07:57):
that there was a fracture, I had declined to hold
him because I didn't want to be blamed for that.
The first time I'm holding my son, you're telling me
that he has a fracture. The day before we were
at the hospital. My wife was not allowed to hold
him the day that we both come. Now that he
has a fracture and we're aware of it, now we're
allowed to hold him.
Speaker 6 (08:17):
It didn't seem right.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
To me, mister Hackey. They told me the same thing
about Lucy, my baby girl, when I was still carrying her.
When doctor told me I had to do selective termination,
you know how crazy I went. Other doctors came running
into the room. I was yelling so much.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I was not going to selectively abort Lucy.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Then they were born and they told me that Lucy
may not make it. It was horrible, horrible, and what
you're saying, John David, my son came out healthy. Everything
was fine, except very premature. Not Lucy. Mister Hackey joining
me right now is a pre eminent physician. It's doctor
(09:07):
William Maroney right now, medical examiner, pathologist, author of American
Narcian and so much more, who has dedicated his life
to helping other people. And I'd like to point out
specifically for you, mister Hackey, that he is a devoted
(09:29):
father like yourself, Doctor Moroney. You know, I'm just a
trial lawyer. Sometimes as a trial lawyer and you're questioning
a physician like yourself, you really don't even know where
to start. But it's my understanding that injuries that occur
during delivery are typically at the joint. And when i'm again,
(09:54):
I'm just reading the tea leaves here, But when I
look at that X ray, that doesn't look like the
fracture is at the joint, does it?
Speaker 8 (10:01):
No? And the idea of where injuries sometimes happen are
statistically based on our past experience as hospitals record injuries.
The only other dominant fracture collarbones fracture all the time
because a baby has to fit through the birth canal
(10:26):
and the shoulders and the neck and the chest are
the widest part. Legs don't break in delivery. I've never
twenty five years, I've never heard of any kind of
broken armor leg in delivery. But collarbones or joint disclocations.
(10:50):
The collarbones the big one, because you're trying to squeeze
this wide baby through this tiny little birth canal. So
that's the first thing you would look at and have
is where do you start your investigation? How did a
fracture happen in that bone in a collar bone. Somebody
(11:12):
would say, oh, well, you know what's fractured, it'll grow back,
we'll line it up everything. I'm okay, and you understand
that because you're trying to squeeze the baby. But these
other things right away, they're very highly suspicious and they
need an investigation.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace. You know, I'm just wondering,
mister Hackey.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I had an emergency cesarian, just like your wife did,
and I was awake the whole time. I could see
the baby's being lifted up, and it's just like you
just said, they weren't pulled out by their legs or
by you know, in a normal birth, the head normally
comes out first. They were lifted up the way I'm
(12:06):
demonstrating right now. And I saw John David come out first.
I saw Lucy come out second, and I was told
they're breathing, and they were looking at me and blinking
their eyes. I remembered distinctly. And when you tell me
they were not pulled out by their legs, I believe
you that's something you never forget. When your wife learned
(12:32):
that her baby her newborn. How much did they weigh?
Speaker 7 (12:37):
Four pounds Noah was three pounds eight ounces, and like
It was two pounds eight ounces.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
John David was five pounds. Lucy was two pounds, like
a kitten. For Pete's sake, When your wife found out
this four pound baby had a fractured leg, how did
your wife take it?
Speaker 6 (12:58):
She I don't think she could process it at that moment.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
Honestly, she was dealing with Like I said, it was
an end to a long, very long pregnancy, which actually
wasn't very long, but it felt long. We were going
to ultrasounds once a week, sometimes twice a week, so
she was very much out of it, which is why
she's kind of letting me speak because I remember it
(13:23):
so clearly. She was dealing with postpartum at that time
as well, so all that she really could do was cry.
And all that I could do was tell my wife that,
you know, our boys are going to be okay.
Speaker 6 (13:37):
That's all we could do.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I don't know how you guys managed to leave them there.
I mean, you couldn't take them home. They needed to
be hooked up to all those machines, so you couldn't say,
to hell with you, I'm taking.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
The children home.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
You had to leave them there oh, how did you
do it? How did you leave your child there?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Knowing?
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Let me think about it. I'm sure you have somebody
had to take your little babies and crack it.
Speaker 7 (14:06):
I guess it was the hospital. Gas led us into
thinking that this was an isolated incident, that they were
really working to figure out who did this. And at
that point we kind of had to trust the hospital
because me and my wife, we were very blessed with
the type of jobs that we have. We were able
(14:28):
to be at the hospital all day every day. We
just couldn't be there at night because we have animals
at home and stuff at home that we have to
attend to. But I mean, we just had to trust
them and with us at that time only thinking that,
you know, this was just our son. It could have
been an injection that was given wrong. They're going to
(14:51):
train people so that they get this right. It was
like at that time, it felt like the hospital was
doing what they were supposed to do, even though they
were telling us that we may never find the person
who did this, because unless somebody confesses, it's.
Speaker 6 (15:08):
Going to be hard to say that this person actually
did it.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Some of these premature babies are so sick their little
organs are not developed enough to be.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Functioning outside the womb.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Yet, and we are basically assisting them by artificial means.
Speaker 9 (15:23):
So we do see death niceeu. We see a lot
of children who have issues with their lungs, with their heart,
with their vision. So any instance where something happens that
is unexpected.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
We're going to watch and try and see what happened.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
But all of that problems with the lungs or the heart,
or with the vision does occur or originate prior to birth.
This kneeborn infant child, this little baby boy, was born
without a fracture in his leg.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
So how did that happen?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
To doctor William Moroney, I know that infant's bones are malleable,
but to fracture or break a baby's bone, it had
to hurt. It had to be horrific pain for the
child to endure. And even though the bones are somewhat
malleable at the time of birth, there's still bones. How
(16:28):
much force would you have to affect in order to
break or fracture a child's leg.
Speaker 8 (16:34):
Probably just a little bit less than like trying to
break a broomstick, or more than break some pasta.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Wait, wait, wait, break a broomstick with your bare hands.
I can break a broomstick with my bare hands, even
I cracked it over my knee.
Speaker 8 (16:52):
No, yes, what are you saying? But the other what
I want to make clear is the rare condition that
a baby is born with broken bones only happens when
the mother is in a car accident. If these mothers
do not have any history of being in recent like
(17:16):
right before the hospital car accidents. All these bones are perfect.
All these babies are born with completely healthy bodies. But
we have seen broken bones in babies after they've been
delivered in emergency deliveries, when the mothers had car accidents.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Mister Hackey, had your wife, I already know the answer
to this. Your wife had not been in any type
of an accident, Hatchie.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Okay, doctor Maroney.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I hate to call a medical doctor of your eminence
on the carpet, but that's really not what I asked you.
I didn't ask you about car rex because there's no
car wreck or no accident, nothing like that, No violent
in on the mom prior to birth. I'm asking you
the degree of force you're telling me a little less
(18:08):
or the same amount as trying to crack a broom
over your knee.
Speaker 8 (18:13):
The physical amount of force would equal something hitting a
wall at twenty miles an hour. And the other thing
I was really real.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
About, baby, How can you be so calm?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Marony?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
How many children do you have? For Pete's sake, don't.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
You remember when they were born someone using that amount
of force like cracking a broomstick to break fracture this
baby's leg.
Speaker 8 (18:39):
And I don't want to make pictures in people's minds
that would make them even more disgusted, but broken ribs
are very difficult. You either crush a baby's chest or
you swing the baby like a baseball bat and hit
a wall. Those are how you break ribs. I've done
(19:02):
the depositions for child abuse in local counties. That's a
tremendous amount of force. So broken bones in the chest,
broken legs, this is serious.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Dominic hackey. I know you're hearing dtr Moroney speaking. When
you hear him describe how much force it would require
to break your kneeborn's leg to fracture it. I mean,
I feel sick just hearing it. When you think about
(19:35):
your infant and the force required like swinging the infant
against a wall or breaking their leg like a broom handle.
Speaker 7 (19:46):
It hurts, its heartbreaking it honestly, it feels like my
son was in this world for a week and I
failed to protect him. And it keeps me up at night.
But I won't feel my son again. I won't fail
these other babies again. What they've been through and all
(20:08):
that they had to endure.
Speaker 6 (20:11):
It's sick that.
Speaker 7 (20:12):
We were in the room with the devil and we
had no idea.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Guys, it all starts here.
Speaker 10 (20:21):
Listen, an infant in a nick euit in Rayo Doctor's
hospital suffers a horrible leg injury that isn't easily explained.
Babies breakbones during birth, It's not uncommon, but this is different.
As the hospital begins to investigate, three other babies have
unexplained fractures.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Okay, let me understand something.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Joining me Dave Matt Crime online dot Com investigative reporter
who has intensely researched this case and conducted his own interviews.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Dave mac Wait.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
A minute, So when this little baby, mister Hackney's baby
has a fractured leg. Before that, there were already three
other babies that had quote unexplained fractures.
Speaker 11 (21:07):
Yes, Nancy, there were four babies in this in the
time around mister Hackney's child that all had unexplained fractures.
One of the babies was actually hurt four days after
mister Hackney's baby.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Okay, I am actually without words, Dave mac I didn't
understand the events chronologically, mister Hackney, did anybody tell you, Oh,
by the way, we've already had multiple babies that have
unexplained fractures. When they were telling you your baby somehow
(21:46):
has a broken leg, did they think to say and oh, yeah,
there were three babies before and then right after that
there's another baby. Did anybody tell you that? I guess not.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
Nobody had told us until after we were out of
the hospital. Henryko Police department told us that there were
other victims that suffered similar fractors around the same time
as my son, and that's when we first learned about it.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
The police department had to tell you that. Let me
ask you a question. Okay, I'm a criminal lawyer, but
I know this much about civil law. I hope you
and your wife had a good lawyer. So at no
point when the doctor is explaining to you your baby
has a fractured leg and it took the forces. Maroney
just said of cracking a broomstick to do it. They
(22:30):
didn't say, and we've had that problem before. They hid
that from you until police told you that you had
no idea.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
There is no.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Way hell would freeze over before I would have my
children in a nick qu unit where other babies had
had fractured bones. Oh no, but you didn't know that,
did you?
Speaker 7 (22:50):
No idea? Nobody. None of the other families knew as well.
We all thought that we were isolated incidents. And honestly,
that's why a lot of us kept quiet for so long.
We didn't know that there were other people out there
who went through similar experiences with the hospital.
Speaker 12 (23:06):
Dominique and Tory Hackee start speaking out after Virginia Child
Services informed them that their newborn baby, Noah, had been
abused by an employee at the nick You when he
suffered a fractured leg following his premature birth. Noah was
one of the four babies who suffered unexplained injuries.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
This would not be the first time. And of course,
you know, Dominie Hackey was looked at long and hard
because parents of an injured or missing child are always
the first suspect. Statistically. He could be the angel Gabriel
that came down from heaven and sat down in front
of police, he would still be the number one suspect statistically. Again,
(23:49):
it's not the first time that a hospital employee has
inflicted pain, suffering, even death on an innocent knee born.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Does the name Lucy let Be ring.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
A bell because that's the name that echoes in my
mind all the time? Listen.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Registered nurse Lucy.
Speaker 13 (24:09):
Let Bee gets her dream job in the neo natology
unit at Countess of Chester Hospital. Working many extra shifts
in the small unit, let Be says she enjoys watching
the infants progress and supporting their families, but patients under
her care experience an unusual amount of medical emergencies and
even death. After years of other doctors and nurses expressing
(24:30):
their concerns, the hospital finally launches an investigation, finding that
seven babies were injured and seven babies died under Leppi's care.
Handwritten notes indicate the nurse injected air into the infant's
bloodstream or gave them lethal doses of insulin minutes before
consoling their grieving parents.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Oh my stars, Okay, Doctor moroney, I gotta ask you
what that means injecting air or insulin. But two, Doctor
John DELATORI I need a shrink right now. Licensed psychologist
who specializes in forensic psychology, Doctor Delatory, did you hear
that last bit about Lucy let be made? She wrought
(25:12):
in hell she would console the parents who are grieving
after their kneeborn infant, just like mister Hackney's babies die,
So she kills them and then she comforts the parents.
(25:33):
That is freaky.
Speaker 14 (25:35):
Yeah, it's absolutely freaky, and it's extremely dangerous. And I
think there are two complicating aspects to this. The first
part is she wants the attention that she gets for
being this grand nurse who's there to console, but in reality,
she hates these children. In reality, she wants nothing more
than to be than to get rid of them.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That's the level of.
Speaker 15 (25:58):
Anger and animosity that needs to be there in order
to inflict pain on a vulnerable child. This level of
hate and anger and annoyance is complicating this idea that
she also wants the attention of being the person that
is there to quote unquote care for them, and it's
the attention that she really wants. But in reality, she
(26:18):
hates that she has to deal with these children in
order to get it.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
We investigated and Lucia let the case. Listen to investigative
reporter Alexis Tereschuk.
Speaker 16 (26:27):
First time it was a tragedy, but immediately the way
that she reacted was a red flag. She wanted to
come back to work immediately, while everybody else was devastated
and crushed by this. Each time a child died, each
time a baby died and she was there, she wanted
to come back to work and insisted on She remember
that many of them were twins or triplets, she wanted
(26:49):
to work with the other sibling immediately, and that really
raised the red legs of the doctors and the nurses
really complained about her and said, this is really very.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Very You think it's weird that she would console the
parents after killing their kneeborn, that's not all Listen.
Speaker 10 (27:09):
After the death of a fifth baby on her unit,
Lucy let me wants to go to the funeral, but
is working at the time and unable to attend, so
she sent a condolence card to the family titled your
loved one will be remembered with many smiles inside. Let
be wrote, there are no words to make this time
any easier. She will always be a part of your
lives and we will never forget her. Thinking of you
(27:31):
today and always lots of love, Lucy. Let me then
took a picture of the card and kept it as
a keepsake.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Okay, Dominic Hackey is joining us. His twins were in
the nick queue when he and his wife learn after
very difficult pregnancy and delivery and emergency c section, that astonishingly,
one of their babies has a fractured legs. Out of nowhere,
(28:02):
you're hearing about Lucy, let be who would murder the
infants and then console the parents and help them plan
the funeral. Did any of the nurses seem odd or
act in an unusual way to you or to your wife?
Speaker 7 (28:23):
None of the nurses really talk to me. There were
very few of them. A lot of them talked to
my wife and directed a lot of care questions to
my wife. It was almost as if I was incapable
of making decisions for my kids and that she was
the only capable one. So I didn't form a lot
of relationships with a lot of the nurses.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Well, they probably suspected you Frankly, mister Hackey, they probably
thought you were responsible because all the nurses think they
know each other and they would never do anything to her,
the baby and the dad or the is typically the purp.
So no wonder they gave you the cole shoulder. They
probably gave you the stink.
Speaker 6 (29:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
I'm sure once they learned because I was very open
with my mom reporting the incident to Child Protective Services
and things like that, that they were very cautious about that.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Nick You nightmare A nurse under arrest for allegedly breaking
the bones of premature infants in a Virginia hospital.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
That's right after they let the foreign nurses come back
because their own investigation went nowhere. That's on them. There
were more fractures. Wow, what a coincidence. Then we learned
this from surveillance video placed in the hospital room. Listen.
Speaker 10 (29:51):
The hospital installed surveillance cameras throughout the nick U after
the unexplained injuries of the previous year. In Raiko County,
police detective Megan Lynch reviews the surveillance video and reports
what she sees. Aaron Strawman seen in the room with
baby identified in paperwork as yh On November tenth, Straman
grabs Yh by the legs and applies pressure to the legs.
(30:12):
Strawman is seen on video placing her weight down on
the legs of Yh. Strawman is then seen taking both
of the baby's legs and pushing them backwards to where
Yh's feet are at his head. Yh appears to be
crying and in distress.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Oh my stars, the baby's feet are back at his head.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Mister Hackey, have you seen this video?
Speaker 6 (30:34):
No, I haven't seen any videos.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
I guarantee you when you get the right lawyer, you
will so, mister Hackey, when were you told that the
perpetrator was caught on video?
Speaker 7 (30:51):
I want to say maybe a couple of weeks ago,
towards the beginning of the year. We By the time
we left the hospital, there were no cameras were in
there for eighty seven days, so if they ever put
in cameras, we didn't know until these new stories came out.
And when I learned of the three babies, that's when
(31:11):
I learned of that there was camera footage. Didn't specifically
say that they caught her on camera footage, but at
that time, but learned that there was camera footage and
that the police department, the Commonwealth Attorney, everybody was going
to be working to review this footage around the clock.
And then, of course once she was arrested, is when
(31:35):
we learned that, you know, they had caught her on footage.
They nobody told us doing what with Who's baby, just
that she was being brought up on charges in connection
with this, and you know, we'll just keep finding out
along the way.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
So the hospital never told.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
You we've got her on video. You had to learn
that from the District Attorney's office. Doctor William Moron, you
heard what we have learned was on the video.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
What exactly does that mean? What does she do to
the baby? According to the video.
Speaker 8 (32:10):
What it looks like is there's pressure to snap a
leg by pushing it outside of what we call barriers.
There's natural barriers that the muscles can use.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Then there may stop. Stop stop doctor, you're talking to
lay people. We don't know what are you saying? Pressure barriers?
Please speak English.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
Here's we'll go back to. When you when you put
weight on that leg to snap that bone, it's equal
to a vehicle hitting a wall at twenty miles an hour.
But it happens in somebody's hands.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
But how does she do it? What do you mean
put weight?
Speaker 1 (33:02):
How does that happen?
Speaker 8 (33:03):
Well, they said in the words that were used. She
pushed down that her body weight, her shoulders, her muscles,
pushed on a b a bone, on legs on one instance,
and then exceeding the normal range of hips and backs
(33:27):
and legs, she twisted the legs so far back that
a baby that's a flat piece of pasta, it's a noodle,
suddenly becomes an elbow. That's unnatural the body. Even adults, children,
they don't bend like that. When you bend something like that,
(33:50):
something breaks. They're very lucky. We don't know the results,
but that could have snapped somebody's spine and made somebody
permanently paralyzed for life. That's the amount of pressure twenty
miles an hour, a car hitting a fence twenty miles
an hour, a car hitting a brick wall. That's the
(34:12):
amount of force and weight from what was done to
those babies. Bone two.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Mary Hutchinson joining us twenty eight years in Elle law enforcement,
now owner chief investigator for Barry and Associates Investigative Services. Mary,
thank you for being with us, what the he double
l is wrong with this hospital?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Their investigation yielded nothing.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
And then as soon as the four nurses did have
put on paid leave. I might add, this woman charged
with breaking the bones a little nikki infants that weigh
four pounds.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
She is on paid leave. Are you kidding me? But
their investigation yield did nothing.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Are you surprised that the hospital found out nothing while
investigating itself.
Speaker 17 (35:10):
No, that's pretty much common practice. They're going to do
everything they can to shield their own liability. And I
mean that's a travesty in itself. That's another story to
be told. But there's no way that you could ever
ever convince me that there wasn't already surveillance in place
in that nick You in some shape, form or fashion
(35:31):
not to mention that there are other cameras all throughout
that hospital, like an adjacent hallways, et cetera, et cetera,
that they could track each one of these individual nurses
and find out exactly a timeline of who was around
the child and when they were around the child.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
You know what, You're absolutely right they had all that
in the records. Who was working the day before the
injury manifested who was working in the day of the injury.
That shouldn't be so difficult to uncover, Yet they didn't.
To Greg Morris joining me, high profile lawyer and partner
(36:09):
at the law firm of King and Morse, author of
the untested on Amazon, Greg Morrise, I'm sorry to report
I'm not surprised at all. You heard Dominic Hacke, the dad,
saying the doctor never even explained to us really exactly
what had happened, didn't mention that employee may have done this.
(36:34):
Nobody told me that other infants before my baby Noah
was attacked, had been attacked. I'm not surprised at all.
The hospital didn't tell him any of that and didn't
tell him, Hey, we have surveillance video.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I want you to know we know who did it.
Never breathe a word, Greg.
Speaker 18 (36:53):
Well, that's the bigger or an issue here also is
the hospital's cover up. And what's particularly troubling to me
is that they questioned these parents. As you pointed out,
they're the first suspects. There is no world where the.
Speaker 19 (37:07):
Hospital doesn't know this is going on with all these babies,
and they're, like your previous experts said, they're trying to
shield their liability. And that's really, that's really, you know,
a comment on our healthcare. We value profits over care,
and this is what you get. You talked about your
own children, Nancy.
Speaker 20 (37:28):
Imagine a doctor says to you, well, when we give needles,
sometimes bones break. There's no world where anybody believes that
there's no world where that's not investigated. But if the
people investigating are sweeping it under the rug, then what
do you do? And it's heartbreaking for these families what
they've had to endure and then to be a suspect
essentially by the hospital administrator so they could hide their
(37:50):
own malfeasance and their own negligence and turning a blind
eye to these things.
Speaker 21 (37:55):
Seven potential abuse cases are now under scrutiny, and investigators
say there could be more. Police investigators are scouring hundreds
of hours of surveillance footage to determine what happened. Reports
say at least three of the affected families were in
court for Strapman's appearance. Only one family has spoken publicly
so far, and that father says another couple told him
(38:17):
their child suffered twelve fractures. Strautman has been formally charged
in just one baby's case. As the investigation continues, Straupman's
public defender says she is not entered a plea as
yet and is being held without bail. Her next court
appearance is scheduled for March twenty fourth.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Mister Hackey, is that true another baby had twelve fractures?
Speaker 6 (38:41):
I hate to say it, but yes.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Have you talked to any of the other parents.
Speaker 7 (38:45):
Yes, I'm currently in contact with five of the other families,
so six families, including myself. It's worked wonders for myself
and the other families just to have other people who
have gone through the situation, who have been gas lit
by the hospital, whose birthing stories are similar to our story,
(39:06):
and we just all feel like we were failed from
the moment we stepped foot from that hospital to the
moment that we left, because we had no idea that
anybody had even been let go in relation to our
son's cases until the news put it out there this year.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Mister Hackey, Ona, thank you for speaking out. There are
parents all over the country whose children suffer injuries or
worse in the hospital and they are fed the line
it's normal. We don't know how this happened.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
It's not normal, mister Hackey.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Have you ever lain awake at night and thought about
how lucky you are she didn't kill your baby every night?
Speaker 15 (39:57):
Ever?
Speaker 6 (39:57):
Sends.
Speaker 7 (39:57):
All of the details of this story were learned because,
like I said, I'm just learning of the severity of
the other cases. So I'm very blessed that I'm able
to come home and hold my two my two little babies,
kiss them, hold my wife, hug her, and we can
sit down as a family and attack this monster head on,
(40:22):
all of us together, and everybody is healthy and happy.
And I'm just truly blessed that my outcome and my
situation did not end in death.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
You know, mister Hackey, you're so much a better person
than I am. You're thinking about your blessings. I would
want to burn the place down with her in it.
We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace signing off, Goodbye
(40:56):
friend Bo.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a so called angel of
pain stalking the halls of the nick You the.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Newborn I see You Unit.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
That's the suspicion after seven newborns, just tiny baby infants
suffer unexplained broken.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Bones while in the hospital.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Joining us tonight the father of two of those babies,
I'm Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
This is crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Nick You nightmare infants with broken bones? What happened to
these premi babies?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Premature babies?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I know I had two of them, and they survived
only because of the nurses and doctors in the nick
You They would have died if it had not been
for the North Side Hospital nick You unit after an
emergency delivery. Sadly that was not the case with many
(01:08):
many other parents that we particular hospital who would take
a baby's bones, an infant, a newborn, and break and
fracture their bones as they lie there helpless. First of all,
take a listen to this.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
It is a burden and a huge responsibility and also
a privilege to be able to care for these children
at their most vulnerable states, and these families in their
most vulnerable states, many many of them have gone through
all kinds of toil and trouble just trying to get pregnant,
and then to deliver early or to have complications during delivery.
(01:51):
It's just heart wrenching for these families to not be
able to go through a natural birth process and take
your child home with you believe them in the care
of others who you really don't know. You have to
trust them, you do.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You have to trust them, and sadly that trust was
misplaced in the case of at least seven Kneeborns that
we know. If think about it, a kneeborn baby premature,
lying there, defenseless, mom and dad have gone home, no
one there to care for them except for the staff
(02:26):
in the nick U. Did an angel of pain stalk
the halls preying on defenseless infants?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Listen?
Speaker 5 (02:38):
Henriiko County Police Detective Megan Lynch responds to Henriiko Doctor's
Hospital in reference to a five month old male in
the nickqu found to have a fractured left femur. When
the child is examined further, it is determined he also
has a fracture.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Of the right tibia and multiple rib fractures.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
The detective has told the injuries are similar to injuries
suffered by four males in the Nicku in the summer
of the previous year.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Oh my Stars, there.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Were other infants that had mysterious broken and fractured bones before,
and nobody did anything joining me, the father Dominic Hackey
is with us.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Mister Hackey, thank you for being with.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
Us, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
When you first of all, tell me how did you
learn about the injuries?
Speaker 7 (03:26):
It was seemingly normal Sunday, Me and my wife walked
into the nick you expecting from my wife to be
able to do skin to skin with our son for
the second time, and that's when we were told that
a nurse had observed discoloration in.
Speaker 6 (03:45):
His left leg.
Speaker 7 (03:46):
He wasn't moving it quite as much as the right one,
so they had gotten an X ray and determined that
he had a tibia fracture.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Mister Hackey, when you learned almost Stars, I'm looking at
the video you gave us control room. Can I see
that video again? This looks just like my John, David
and Lucy when they were in Niki. They had all
these cords, all these going in some of them the
(04:17):
tubes go in the nose and come out the foot.
They are completely helpless, Dominique, When you learned your baby boy,
your infant, your PREMI had a fracture of the leg
and that one of the legs wasn't moving, did you
(04:40):
think someone had done that to your baby or that
somehow this happened during childbirth.
Speaker 7 (04:46):
I knew it didn't happen during childbirth. My wife had
an emergency c section like yourself. I watched every minute
of that. I watched how he was pulled out. I
watched everything after that. He wasn't pulled out by its legs.
Nothing that in childbirth would have caused this. But it
did take a minute for us to process what was happening.
(05:10):
Our other son, Micah, was very, very sick. We had told,
we were being told that we were going to lose
him twice at that point, so we were just overwhelmed
with emotions. We had talked to the doctor on staff
that day. We weren't really given any answers on to
how this happened. And honestly, after we were told what
we were told and spoke to the doctors on staff,
(05:32):
I told my wife we need to leave because I
needed to take time outside of that hospital to process
what was happening. And I had already at that time
reached out to my mom, who was then, you know,
texting me a million times back to back. This isn't right.
You need to call Child Protective Services. This shouldn't be happening.
(05:53):
I don't feel safe with my grandson in there, so
I needed to get out of the hospital, call her
and kind of get get my feet to where we
needed to go next. So it was a lot in
that moment to process.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Mister Hackey, you stated they had already told you what twice.
Speaker 7 (06:10):
That our son, Micah was gonna pass away just due
to the complications with my wife's pregnancy. He had low
fluid at sixteen weeks, which caused him to have a
lot of respiratory distress. So at that time, Micah was
on a ventilator, an oscillator, hooked up to so many
different machines. But Noah was our strong baby. He was
(06:32):
perfect from the moment that he came out. He needed
very little respiratory help.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
So we had hope.
Speaker 7 (06:41):
He was our hope, i should say, because he came
out so strong and nothing wrong with him, and you know,
we just wanted the same for our other son as well.
So we were very heartbroken to learn that our healthy
baby now is not healthy and nobody can tell us why.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And when you talk to the doctor, mister Hackey, the doctor,
did he he she avoid the fracture or did they
try to say, hey, maybe it was this, maybe it
was that. We don't know what happened, or do they
just not talk about it.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
They initially told us that it could have been done
from an injection that was given, maybe too too rough
or too hard. So they were going to implement some
trainings so that the nurses could be able to give
injections correctly. And that's kind of the only explanation that
was given. And I want to make it perfectly clear.
(07:35):
Bone density, vitamin deficiency, brittle bone syndrome was never ever
brought up in our case. It was never questioned, it
was never it was never a factor for us. So
that it's without without a doubt that somebody at this
hospital did it. Because as soon as we were told
(07:57):
that there was a fracture, I had declined to hold
him because I didn't want to be blamed for that.
The first time I'm holding my son, you're telling me
that he has a fracture. The day before we were
at the hospital. My wife was not allowed to hold
him the day that we both come. Now that he
has a fracture and we're aware of it, now we're
allowed to hold him.
Speaker 6 (08:17):
It didn't seem right.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
To me, mister Hackey. They told me the same thing
about Lucy, my baby girl, when I was still carrying her.
When doctor told me I had to do selective termination,
you know how crazy I went. Other doctors came running
into the room. I was yelling so much.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I was not going to selectively abort Lucy.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Then they were born and they told me that Lucy
may not make it. It was horrible, horrible, and what
you're saying, John David, my son came out healthy. Everything
was fine, except very premature. Not Lucy. Mister Hackey joining
me right now is a pre eminent physician. It's doctor
(09:07):
William Maroney right now, medical examiner, pathologist, author of American
Narcian and so much more, who has dedicated his life
to helping other people. And I'd like to point out
specifically for you, mister Hackey, that he is a devoted
(09:29):
father like yourself, Doctor Moroney. You know, I'm just a
trial lawyer. Sometimes as a trial lawyer and you're questioning
a physician like yourself, you really don't even know where
to start. But it's my understanding that injuries that occur
during delivery are typically at the joint. And when i'm again,
(09:54):
I'm just reading the tea leaves here, But when I
look at that X ray, that doesn't look like the
fracture is at the joint, does it?
Speaker 8 (10:01):
No? And the idea of where injuries sometimes happen are
statistically based on our past experience as hospitals record injuries.
The only other dominant fracture collarbones fracture all the time
because a baby has to fit through the birth canal
(10:26):
and the shoulders and the neck and the chest are
the widest part. Legs don't break in delivery. I've never
twenty five years, I've never heard of any kind of
broken armor leg in delivery. But collarbones or joint disclocations.
(10:50):
The collarbones the big one, because you're trying to squeeze
this wide baby through this tiny little birth canal. So
that's the first thing you would look at and have
is where do you start your investigation? How did a
fracture happen in that bone in a collar bone. Somebody
(11:12):
would say, oh, well, you know what's fractured, it'll grow back,
we'll line it up everything. I'm okay, and you understand
that because you're trying to squeeze the baby. But these
other things right away, they're very highly suspicious and they
need an investigation.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace. You know, I'm just wondering,
mister Hackey.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I had an emergency cesarian, just like your wife did,
and I was awake the whole time. I could see
the baby's being lifted up, and it's just like you
just said, they weren't pulled out by their legs or
by you know, in a normal birth, the head normally
comes out first. They were lifted up the way I'm
(12:06):
demonstrating right now. And I saw John David come out first.
I saw Lucy come out second, and I was told
they're breathing, and they were looking at me and blinking
their eyes. I remembered distinctly. And when you tell me
they were not pulled out by their legs, I believe
you that's something you never forget. When your wife learned
(12:32):
that her baby her newborn. How much did they weigh?
Speaker 7 (12:37):
Four pounds Noah was three pounds eight ounces, and like
It was two pounds eight ounces.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
John David was five pounds. Lucy was two pounds, like
a kitten. For Pete's sake, When your wife found out
this four pound baby had a fractured leg, how did
your wife take it?
Speaker 6 (12:58):
She I don't think she could process it at that moment.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
Honestly, she was dealing with Like I said, it was
an end to a long, very long pregnancy, which actually
wasn't very long, but it felt long. We were going
to ultrasounds once a week, sometimes twice a week, so
she was very much out of it, which is why
she's kind of letting me speak because I remember it
(13:23):
so clearly. She was dealing with postpartum at that time
as well, so all that she really could do was cry.
And all that I could do was tell my wife that,
you know, our boys are going to be okay.
Speaker 6 (13:37):
That's all we could do.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I don't know how you guys managed to leave them there.
I mean, you couldn't take them home. They needed to
be hooked up to all those machines, so you couldn't say,
to hell with you, I'm taking.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
The children home.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
You had to leave them there oh, how did you
do it? How did you leave your child there?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Knowing?
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Let me think about it. I'm sure you have somebody
had to take your little babies and crack it.
Speaker 7 (14:06):
I guess it was the hospital. Gas led us into
thinking that this was an isolated incident, that they were
really working to figure out who did this. And at
that point we kind of had to trust the hospital
because me and my wife, we were very blessed with
the type of jobs that we have. We were able
(14:28):
to be at the hospital all day every day. We
just couldn't be there at night because we have animals
at home and stuff at home that we have to
attend to. But I mean, we just had to trust
them and with us at that time only thinking that,
you know, this was just our son. It could have
been an injection that was given wrong. They're going to
(14:51):
train people so that they get this right. It was
like at that time, it felt like the hospital was
doing what they were supposed to do, even though they
were telling us that we may never find the person
who did this, because unless somebody confesses, it's.
Speaker 6 (15:08):
Going to be hard to say that this person actually
did it.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Some of these premature babies are so sick their little
organs are not developed enough to be.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Functioning outside the womb.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Yet, and we are basically assisting them by artificial means.
Speaker 9 (15:23):
So we do see death niceeu. We see a lot
of children who have issues with their lungs, with their heart,
with their vision. So any instance where something happens that
is unexpected.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
We're going to watch and try and see what happened.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
But all of that problems with the lungs or the heart,
or with the vision does occur or originate prior to birth.
This kneeborn infant child, this little baby boy, was born
without a fracture in his leg.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
So how did that happen?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
To doctor William Moroney, I know that infant's bones are malleable,
but to fracture or break a baby's bone, it had
to hurt. It had to be horrific pain for the
child to endure. And even though the bones are somewhat
malleable at the time of birth, there's still bones. How
(16:28):
much force would you have to affect in order to
break or fracture a child's leg.
Speaker 8 (16:34):
Probably just a little bit less than like trying to
break a broomstick, or more than break some pasta.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Wait, wait, wait, break a broomstick with your bare hands.
I can break a broomstick with my bare hands, even
I cracked it over my knee.
Speaker 8 (16:52):
No, yes, what are you saying? But the other what
I want to make clear is the rare condition that
a baby is born with broken bones only happens when
the mother is in a car accident. If these mothers
do not have any history of being in recent like
(17:16):
right before the hospital car accidents. All these bones are perfect.
All these babies are born with completely healthy bodies. But
we have seen broken bones in babies after they've been
delivered in emergency deliveries, when the mothers had car accidents.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Mister Hackey, had your wife, I already know the answer
to this. Your wife had not been in any type
of an accident, Hatchie.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Okay, doctor Maroney.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I hate to call a medical doctor of your eminence
on the carpet, but that's really not what I asked you.
I didn't ask you about car rex because there's no
car wreck or no accident, nothing like that, No violent
in on the mom prior to birth. I'm asking you
the degree of force you're telling me a little less
(18:08):
or the same amount as trying to crack a broom
over your knee.
Speaker 8 (18:13):
The physical amount of force would equal something hitting a
wall at twenty miles an hour. And the other thing
I was really real.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
About, baby, How can you be so calm?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Marony?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
How many children do you have? For Pete's sake, don't.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
You remember when they were born someone using that amount
of force like cracking a broomstick to break fracture this
baby's leg.
Speaker 8 (18:39):
And I don't want to make pictures in people's minds
that would make them even more disgusted, but broken ribs
are very difficult. You either crush a baby's chest or
you swing the baby like a baseball bat and hit
a wall. Those are how you break ribs. I've done
(19:02):
the depositions for child abuse in local counties. That's a
tremendous amount of force. So broken bones in the chest,
broken legs, this is serious.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Dominic hackey. I know you're hearing dtr Moroney speaking. When
you hear him describe how much force it would require
to break your kneeborn's leg to fracture it. I mean,
I feel sick just hearing it. When you think about
(19:35):
your infant and the force required like swinging the infant
against a wall or breaking their leg like a broom handle.
Speaker 7 (19:46):
It hurts, its heartbreaking it honestly, it feels like my
son was in this world for a week and I
failed to protect him. And it keeps me up at night.
But I won't feel my son again. I won't fail
these other babies again. What they've been through and all
(20:08):
that they had to endure.
Speaker 6 (20:11):
It's sick that.
Speaker 7 (20:12):
We were in the room with the devil and we
had no idea.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Guys, it all starts here.
Speaker 10 (20:21):
Listen, an infant in a nick euit in Rayo Doctor's
hospital suffers a horrible leg injury that isn't easily explained.
Babies breakbones during birth, It's not uncommon, but this is different.
As the hospital begins to investigate, three other babies have
unexplained fractures.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Okay, let me understand something.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Joining me Dave Matt Crime online dot Com investigative reporter
who has intensely researched this case and conducted his own interviews.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Dave mac Wait.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
A minute, So when this little baby, mister Hackney's baby
has a fractured leg. Before that, there were already three
other babies that had quote unexplained fractures.
Speaker 11 (21:07):
Yes, Nancy, there were four babies in this in the
time around mister Hackney's child that all had unexplained fractures.
One of the babies was actually hurt four days after
mister Hackney's baby.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Okay, I am actually without words, Dave mac I didn't
understand the events chronologically, mister Hackney, did anybody tell you, Oh,
by the way, we've already had multiple babies that have
unexplained fractures. When they were telling you your baby somehow
(21:46):
has a broken leg, did they think to say and oh, yeah,
there were three babies before and then right after that
there's another baby. Did anybody tell you that? I guess not.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
Nobody had told us until after we were out of
the hospital. Henryko Police department told us that there were
other victims that suffered similar fractors around the same time
as my son, and that's when we first learned about it.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
The police department had to tell you that. Let me
ask you a question. Okay, I'm a criminal lawyer, but
I know this much about civil law. I hope you
and your wife had a good lawyer. So at no
point when the doctor is explaining to you your baby
has a fractured leg and it took the forces. Maroney
just said of cracking a broomstick to do it. They
(22:30):
didn't say, and we've had that problem before. They hid
that from you until police told you that you had
no idea.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
There is no.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Way hell would freeze over before I would have my
children in a nick qu unit where other babies had
had fractured bones. Oh no, but you didn't know that,
did you?
Speaker 7 (22:50):
No idea? Nobody. None of the other families knew as well.
We all thought that we were isolated incidents. And honestly,
that's why a lot of us kept quiet for so long.
We didn't know that there were other people out there
who went through similar experiences with the hospital.
Speaker 12 (23:06):
Dominique and Tory Hackee start speaking out after Virginia Child
Services informed them that their newborn baby, Noah, had been
abused by an employee at the nick You when he
suffered a fractured leg following his premature birth. Noah was
one of the four babies who suffered unexplained injuries.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
This would not be the first time. And of course,
you know, Dominie Hackey was looked at long and hard
because parents of an injured or missing child are always
the first suspect. Statistically. He could be the angel Gabriel
that came down from heaven and sat down in front
of police, he would still be the number one suspect statistically. Again,
(23:49):
it's not the first time that a hospital employee has
inflicted pain, suffering, even death on an innocent knee born.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Does the name Lucy let Be ring.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
A bell because that's the name that echoes in my
mind all the time? Listen.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Registered nurse Lucy.
Speaker 13 (24:09):
Let Bee gets her dream job in the neo natology
unit at Countess of Chester Hospital. Working many extra shifts
in the small unit, let Be says she enjoys watching
the infants progress and supporting their families, but patients under
her care experience an unusual amount of medical emergencies and
even death. After years of other doctors and nurses expressing
(24:30):
their concerns, the hospital finally launches an investigation, finding that
seven babies were injured and seven babies died under Leppi's care.
Handwritten notes indicate the nurse injected air into the infant's
bloodstream or gave them lethal doses of insulin minutes before
consoling their grieving parents.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Oh my stars, Okay, Doctor moroney, I gotta ask you
what that means injecting air or insulin. But two, Doctor
John DELATORI I need a shrink right now. Licensed psychologist
who specializes in forensic psychology, Doctor Delatory, did you hear
that last bit about Lucy let be made? She wrought
(25:12):
in hell she would console the parents who are grieving
after their kneeborn infant, just like mister Hackney's babies die,
So she kills them and then she comforts the parents.
(25:33):
That is freaky.
Speaker 14 (25:35):
Yeah, it's absolutely freaky, and it's extremely dangerous. And I
think there are two complicating aspects to this. The first
part is she wants the attention that she gets for
being this grand nurse who's there to console, but in reality,
she hates these children. In reality, she wants nothing more
than to be than to get rid of them.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That's the level of.
Speaker 15 (25:58):
Anger and animosity that needs to be there in order
to inflict pain on a vulnerable child. This level of
hate and anger and annoyance is complicating this idea that
she also wants the attention of being the person that
is there to quote unquote care for them, and it's
the attention that she really wants. But in reality, she
(26:18):
hates that she has to deal with these children in
order to get it.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
We investigated and Lucia let the case. Listen to investigative
reporter Alexis Tereschuk.
Speaker 16 (26:27):
First time it was a tragedy, but immediately the way
that she reacted was a red flag. She wanted to
come back to work immediately, while everybody else was devastated
and crushed by this. Each time a child died, each
time a baby died and she was there, she wanted
to come back to work and insisted on She remember
that many of them were twins or triplets, she wanted
(26:49):
to work with the other sibling immediately, and that really
raised the red legs of the doctors and the nurses
really complained about her and said, this is really very.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Very You think it's weird that she would console the
parents after killing their kneeborn, that's not all Listen.
Speaker 10 (27:09):
After the death of a fifth baby on her unit,
Lucy let me wants to go to the funeral, but
is working at the time and unable to attend, so
she sent a condolence card to the family titled your
loved one will be remembered with many smiles inside. Let
be wrote, there are no words to make this time
any easier. She will always be a part of your
lives and we will never forget her. Thinking of you
(27:31):
today and always lots of love, Lucy. Let me then
took a picture of the card and kept it as
a keepsake.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Okay, Dominic Hackey is joining us. His twins were in
the nick queue when he and his wife learn after
very difficult pregnancy and delivery and emergency c section, that astonishingly,
one of their babies has a fractured legs. Out of nowhere,
(28:02):
you're hearing about Lucy, let be who would murder the
infants and then console the parents and help them plan
the funeral. Did any of the nurses seem odd or
act in an unusual way to you or to your wife?
Speaker 7 (28:23):
None of the nurses really talk to me. There were
very few of them. A lot of them talked to
my wife and directed a lot of care questions to
my wife. It was almost as if I was incapable
of making decisions for my kids and that she was
the only capable one. So I didn't form a lot
of relationships with a lot of the nurses.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Well, they probably suspected you Frankly, mister Hackey, they probably
thought you were responsible because all the nurses think they
know each other and they would never do anything to her,
the baby and the dad or the is typically the purp.
So no wonder they gave you the cole shoulder. They
probably gave you the stink.
Speaker 6 (29:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
I'm sure once they learned because I was very open
with my mom reporting the incident to Child Protective Services
and things like that, that they were very cautious about that.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Nick You nightmare A nurse under arrest for allegedly breaking
the bones of premature infants in a Virginia hospital.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
That's right after they let the foreign nurses come back
because their own investigation went nowhere. That's on them. There
were more fractures. Wow, what a coincidence. Then we learned
this from surveillance video placed in the hospital room. Listen.
Speaker 10 (29:51):
The hospital installed surveillance cameras throughout the nick U after
the unexplained injuries of the previous year. In Raiko County,
police detective Megan Lynch reviews the surveillance video and reports
what she sees. Aaron Strawman seen in the room with
baby identified in paperwork as yh On November tenth, Straman
grabs Yh by the legs and applies pressure to the legs.
(30:12):
Strawman is seen on video placing her weight down on
the legs of Yh. Strawman is then seen taking both
of the baby's legs and pushing them backwards to where
Yh's feet are at his head. Yh appears to be
crying and in distress.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Oh my stars, the baby's feet are back at his head.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Mister Hackey, have you seen this video?
Speaker 6 (30:34):
No, I haven't seen any videos.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
I guarantee you when you get the right lawyer, you
will so, mister Hackey, when were you told that the
perpetrator was caught on video?
Speaker 7 (30:51):
I want to say maybe a couple of weeks ago,
towards the beginning of the year. We By the time
we left the hospital, there were no cameras were in
there for eighty seven days, so if they ever put
in cameras, we didn't know until these new stories came out.
And when I learned of the three babies, that's when
(31:11):
I learned of that there was camera footage. Didn't specifically
say that they caught her on camera footage, but at
that time, but learned that there was camera footage and
that the police department, the Commonwealth Attorney, everybody was going
to be working to review this footage around the clock.
And then, of course once she was arrested, is when
(31:35):
we learned that, you know, they had caught her on footage.
They nobody told us doing what with Who's baby, just
that she was being brought up on charges in connection
with this, and you know, we'll just keep finding out
along the way.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
So the hospital never told.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
You we've got her on video. You had to learn
that from the District Attorney's office. Doctor William Moron, you
heard what we have learned was on the video.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
What exactly does that mean? What does she do to
the baby? According to the video.
Speaker 8 (32:10):
What it looks like is there's pressure to snap a
leg by pushing it outside of what we call barriers.
There's natural barriers that the muscles can use.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Then there may stop. Stop stop doctor, you're talking to
lay people. We don't know what are you saying? Pressure barriers?
Please speak English.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
Here's we'll go back to. When you when you put
weight on that leg to snap that bone, it's equal
to a vehicle hitting a wall at twenty miles an hour.
But it happens in somebody's hands.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
But how does she do it? What do you mean
put weight?
Speaker 1 (33:02):
How does that happen?
Speaker 8 (33:03):
Well, they said in the words that were used. She
pushed down that her body weight, her shoulders, her muscles,
pushed on a b a bone, on legs on one instance,
and then exceeding the normal range of hips and backs
(33:27):
and legs, she twisted the legs so far back that
a baby that's a flat piece of pasta, it's a noodle,
suddenly becomes an elbow. That's unnatural the body. Even adults, children,
they don't bend like that. When you bend something like that,
(33:50):
something breaks. They're very lucky. We don't know the results,
but that could have snapped somebody's spine and made somebody
permanently paralyzed for life. That's the amount of pressure twenty
miles an hour, a car hitting a fence twenty miles
an hour, a car hitting a brick wall. That's the
(34:12):
amount of force and weight from what was done to
those babies. Bone two.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Mary Hutchinson joining us twenty eight years in Elle law enforcement,
now owner chief investigator for Barry and Associates Investigative Services. Mary,
thank you for being with us, what the he double
l is wrong with this hospital?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Their investigation yielded nothing.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
And then as soon as the four nurses did have
put on paid leave. I might add, this woman charged
with breaking the bones a little nikki infants that weigh
four pounds.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
She is on paid leave. Are you kidding me? But
their investigation yield did nothing.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Are you surprised that the hospital found out nothing while
investigating itself.
Speaker 17 (35:10):
No, that's pretty much common practice. They're going to do
everything they can to shield their own liability. And I
mean that's a travesty in itself. That's another story to
be told. But there's no way that you could ever
ever convince me that there wasn't already surveillance in place
in that nick You in some shape, form or fashion
(35:31):
not to mention that there are other cameras all throughout
that hospital, like an adjacent hallways, et cetera, et cetera,
that they could track each one of these individual nurses
and find out exactly a timeline of who was around
the child and when they were around the child.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
You know what, You're absolutely right they had all that
in the records. Who was working the day before the
injury manifested who was working in the day of the injury.
That shouldn't be so difficult to uncover, Yet they didn't.
To Greg Morris joining me, high profile lawyer and partner
(36:09):
at the law firm of King and Morse, author of
the untested on Amazon, Greg Morrise, I'm sorry to report
I'm not surprised at all. You heard Dominic Hacke, the dad,
saying the doctor never even explained to us really exactly
what had happened, didn't mention that employee may have done this.
(36:34):
Nobody told me that other infants before my baby Noah
was attacked, had been attacked. I'm not surprised at all.
The hospital didn't tell him any of that and didn't
tell him, Hey, we have surveillance video.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I want you to know we know who did it.
Never breathe a word, Greg.
Speaker 18 (36:53):
Well, that's the bigger or an issue here also is
the hospital's cover up. And what's particularly troubling to me
is that they questioned these parents. As you pointed out,
they're the first suspects. There is no world where the.
Speaker 19 (37:07):
Hospital doesn't know this is going on with all these babies,
and they're, like your previous experts said, they're trying to
shield their liability. And that's really, that's really, you know,
a comment on our healthcare. We value profits over care,
and this is what you get. You talked about your
own children, Nancy.
Speaker 20 (37:28):
Imagine a doctor says to you, well, when we give needles,
sometimes bones break. There's no world where anybody believes that
there's no world where that's not investigated. But if the
people investigating are sweeping it under the rug, then what
do you do? And it's heartbreaking for these families what
they've had to endure and then to be a suspect
essentially by the hospital administrator so they could hide their
(37:50):
own malfeasance and their own negligence and turning a blind
eye to these things.
Speaker 21 (37:55):
Seven potential abuse cases are now under scrutiny, and investigators
say there could be more. Police investigators are scouring hundreds
of hours of surveillance footage to determine what happened. Reports
say at least three of the affected families were in
court for Strapman's appearance. Only one family has spoken publicly
so far, and that father says another couple told him
(38:17):
their child suffered twelve fractures. Strautman has been formally charged
in just one baby's case. As the investigation continues, Straupman's
public defender says she is not entered a plea as
yet and is being held without bail. Her next court
appearance is scheduled for March twenty fourth.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Mister Hackey, is that true another baby had twelve fractures?
Speaker 6 (38:41):
I hate to say it, but yes.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Have you talked to any of the other parents.
Speaker 7 (38:45):
Yes, I'm currently in contact with five of the other families,
so six families, including myself. It's worked wonders for myself
and the other families just to have other people who
have gone through the situation, who have been gas lit
by the hospital, whose birthing stories are similar to our story,
(39:06):
and we just all feel like we were failed from
the moment we stepped foot from that hospital to the
moment that we left, because we had no idea that
anybody had even been let go in relation to our
son's cases until the news put it out there this year.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Mister Hackey, Ona, thank you for speaking out. There are
parents all over the country whose children suffer injuries or
worse in the hospital and they are fed the line
it's normal. We don't know how this happened.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
It's not normal, mister Hackey.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Have you ever lain awake at night and thought about
how lucky you are she didn't kill your baby every night?
Speaker 15 (39:57):
Ever?
Speaker 6 (39:57):
Sends.
Speaker 7 (39:57):
All of the details of this story were learned because,
like I said, I'm just learning of the severity of
the other cases. So I'm very blessed that I'm able
to come home and hold my two my two little babies,
kiss them, hold my wife, hug her, and we can
sit down as a family and attack this monster head on,
(40:22):
all of us together, and everybody is healthy and happy.
And I'm just truly blessed that my outcome and my
situation did not end in death.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
You know, mister Hackey, you're so much a better person
than I am. You're thinking about your blessings. I would
want to burn the place down with her in it.
We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace signing off, Goodbye
(40:56):
friend Bo.
Host
Nancy Grace
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