NEPTUNE — From the day she was accused of killing a sick former bank executive, nurse Lorie Hentges insisted her sole purpose for being in his hospital room was to hold the hand of a dying man.
Three years after the the patient, Alvin Flamenbaum, was found dead, a Superior Court judge in Monmouth County today dismissed the murder indictment when a prosecutor said he could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt Hentges administered lethal doses of a paralytic drug to the patient.
"The ongoing evaluation of the evidence in the case has led to the conclusion that the proof-beyond-a-reasonable doubt burden cannot be met by the state if the case proceeded to trial," Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Marc LeMieux told Judge Francis Vernoia in Freehold.
Hentges, who worked in the Cardio Thoracic Intensive Care Unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, was not Flamenbaum’s nurse but was seen in his room before he died on April 14, 2007. An autopsy showed the presence of a paralytic drug, one that would not have been administered for his condition, authorities said.
A criminal investigation was launched April 16, 2007, and Hentges, a nurse at the facility since 1996, was suspended the next day.
Hentges’ attorney, Alton Kenney, said a physician for the defense raised questions about the medical evidence, prompting the prosecutor’s office to ask the FBI to conduct an independent analysis. The results showed the presence of two paralytic drugs, including one that was administered the night before Flamenbaum died, when Hentges was not working, Kenney said.
Previous coverage:
• Grand jury again indicts nurse in Jersey Shore Medical Center patient's death
• Murder indictment against Jersey Shore nurse is dismissed
• Jersey Shore nurse is charged in heart patient's death
"The fairest reading of the scientific evidence left substantial doubt as to when and by whom the paralytic drugs in question were administered," Kenney said after court yesterday.
He called the paralytic drugs "undocumented" and "unauthorized" and said they were administered with no known need given Flamenbaum’s condition.
Since her suspension, Hentges has been working as a data collector for a physician.
"I’m so overwhelmed," she said said after court yesterday. "I’d like to thank everybody that has just stood behind me and with me from emotional support through financial support over three years."
Hentges, who has been out on $250,000 bail since her 2008 arrest, said her colleagues at Jersey Shore held a fundraiser for her that was attended by more than 400 people.
Flamenbaum, 72, of Toms River, was admitted to the hospital on March 19, 2007, with congestive heart failure and returned a month later complaining of shortness of breath. His condition considered terminal, Flamenbaum, a former vice president at Barclays Bank in New York City, was removed from life support on April 13, 2007.
The case took a strange turn when the prosecution’s key witness, Jenna Barto, was fired from Jersey Shore earlier this year. Barto, who was Flamenbaum’s nurse, reported seeing Hentges in Flamenbaum’s room shortly before his condition worsened. Barto told hospital supervisors Flamenbaum was breathing on his own when she took a break.
Kenney was in the process of requesting a copy of Barto’s personnel file, including the reason for her termination, when Vernoia dismissed the case.
A judge threw out the indictment in 2008 on a procedural error by the prosecutor’s office, but Hentges was re-indicted last year.
When Vernoia dismissed the indictment for good, Hentges, dressed in a black striped business suit, hugged Kenney and kissed her husband, Rob, who was in the audience.
If convicted of murder, Hentges could have faced 30 years to life in prison. She rejected a plea deal with the prosecutor’s office in February offering a probationary sentence if she pleaded guilty to assault.
Kenney said his next step is to get Hentges returned to her job at Jersey Shore. He did not rule out a civil lawsuit.
"We’ll take all necessary steps to restore my client’s reputation and seek compensation for her lost wages and the extraordinary expense of having to bear this case," he said.