Crime

Read a probable cause statement detailing the murder charge against Jennifer Hall

This booking photo from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office shows Jennifer Hall after her arrest on May 12, 2022.
This booking photo from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office shows Jennifer Hall after her arrest on May 12, 2022. Johnson County Sheriff's Department

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Missouri hospital deaths suspect led life filled with turmoil

Jennifer Hall of Johnson County fell under suspicion after a series of patient deaths at a Chillicothe hospital 20 years ago. She is now charged with murder.


This May, Jennifer Hall was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the 2002 death of a woman at a Missouri hospital where Hall worked at the time.

Fern Franco’s was the last of nine suspicious deaths that spring at Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe, where Hall was a respiratory therapist.

Hall was the lone suspect from the beginning. But prosecutors didn’t believe they had sufficient evidence to bring charges against her. That changed this year, when Hall was arrested two weeks shy of the 20th anniversary of Franco’s death.

Allegations supporting the murder charge are laid out in this probable cause statement submitted by a Chillicothe police officer.

This story was originally published July 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.

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Missouri hospital deaths suspect led life filled with turmoil

Jennifer Hall of Johnson County fell under suspicion after a series of patient deaths at a Chillicothe hospital 20 years ago. She is now charged with murder.