SMITH COUNTY, Texas — Monday, April 10, marked the the five-year anniversary of the arrest of an East Texas nurse who was later convicted for multiple murders.
William Davis was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of four patients while working at CHRISTUS Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital. It was a case that shocked many in the Tyler community and garnered national media attention.
"From the investigation, through really the time of trial, was an incredible amount of work," said Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman. "Now it's in the post-trial proceedings so appeals and writs, my office is working on that end of it now."
Putman recalls all the evidence and witness testimonies during the intense trial. The case even inspired a Hulu documentary episode looking into the mind of William Davis in the series, "The Lesson Is Murder".
"They actually got to interview William Davis himself and on death row so that was pretty significant," Putman said. "He had not given a statement like that to anybody since his trial."
Putman said Davis never admitted to the murders but his team was convinced by the evidence he had committed the crimes. He said the only reason Davis could have committed the crimes was that he enjoyed it.
"Which is really hard for people to fathom and to kind of wrap their minds around," Putman said. "In that interview with that production crew that's what he admitted to. He admitted to doing it because he enjoyed it, which is pretty scary."
CBS19 asked the hospital’s media team if any teps have been taken since this case to ensure patients feel secure.
In a statement they said, “CHRISTUS Health acted quickly, immediately involved local law enforcement and assisted in ensuring that justice was delivered for the families of these patients… the safety and security of the people in our care is our number one priority and that is where our focus remains today, tomorrow and every day.”
Putman said his office and the Tyler Police Department also took several lessons from this case, building a relationship with the hospital was one of them.
"We had to have a lot of help from doctors and nurses explaining to us what we were seeing in these records and what normally goes on in the hospital," Putman said. "So we gained a lot of information from that. I don't know how helpful that is to any other case, this is a pretty unique set of circumstances."
Davis has appealed his sentence -- a process Putman said is lengthy and could be denied.