An Air Force nurse charged with three count of murder received support on the witness stand from an unlikely source.
Capt. Michael Fontana is on trial accused of overdosing three end-of-life patients at Wilford Hall, including 87-year-old retired Air Force major Ordie Despain.
But on Thursday, Despain's daughter-in-law, Vicky Pekurny, testified. “My dad went the way he wanted to," she said. "Fully with dignity."
Pekurny testified that Fontana was very tender and that her father built a great relationship with him during his final days. Fontana began to cry during her testimony.
However, the defense says mistakes were made at Wilford Hall.
For the second straight day, defense attorney Elizabeth Higginbotham grilled doctors on the stand and pointed the finger up the chain on command, all the way to Wilford Hall Commander Maj. Gen. Dr. Tom Travis.
The defense alluded to a cover-up by the hospital and said Fontana is being used as a scapegoat.
The doctors who have testified so far deny any cover-up, and insist Fontana failed to follow orders and acted alone when giving patients excessive amount of medication.
