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  • The Death Shift

  • Nurse Genene Jones and the Texas Baby Murders
  • Written by: Peter Elkind
  • Narrated by: Lee Ann Howlett
  • Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

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The Death Shift

Written by: Peter Elkind
Narrated by: Lee Ann Howlett
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Publisher's Summary

Updated with dramatic developments and new murder charges, filed in the coldest of cold cases, to keep a serial baby-killer behind bars. This tale is every parent's worst nightmare: the horrifying account of a Texas nurse who killed children under her care, and the hospital that covered it up.

It's 1980, and Genene Jones is working in the pediatric ICU at San Antonio's charity hospital, on what soon came to be known as "the Death Shift". From 3-11 PM, infants under her care begin experiencing unexpected emergencies - and dying - in alarming numbers, prompting rumors that there is a murderer among the staff. This chilling epidemic continued unabated for more than a year, before Jones was quietly sent off - with a good recommendation - to a small-town pediatric clinic. There, eight children under her care mysteriously stopped breathing in a single month - and a 15-month-old baby girl died.

In May 1983, Jones was finally arrested, leading to trials that revealed her strange attraction to medical emergencies and a desire to "play God" with the lives of the children under her care. More shocking still, as The Death Shift reveals, the hospital had volunteered nothing to law-enforcement authorities about Jones' horrific deeds, allowing her spree to continue and prompting grieving parents to ask: Why? Elkind chronicles Jones chilling rampage, while also turning his piercing gaze onto those responsible for its cover-up.

This updated edition is a tale with fresh relevance, revealing how prosecutors raced to keep Jones behind bars, despite her scheduled mandatory release from a Texas prison in early 2018, after one-third of a 99-year murder sentence; Jones' cryptic secret prison confessions - followed by giddy exultations to a band of evangelical allies about her expected release; and how prosecutors finally won a guilty plea from Jones on the eve of a new murder trial.

©1983, 1989, 2021 Peter Elkind (P)2021 Peter Elkind

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decent story

if you're like me and like podcasts and audiobooks on medical true crime like Dr.Death, you will probably like this book.
My only complaint about this book is it's a bit long, but for the most part the majority of the content is interesting. I like a true crime story that doesn't leave you with a lot of unknowns and everything at the end of this story is very concrete which is good. I don't hesitate to return a book if it doesn't capture me, and I do that often, but I liked this book and finished it.

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