Family claims man posing as doctor killed patient
On Friday, News 5 aired a story on a man who regained consciousness after three days in a coma at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Denfield Williams’ mother told News 5 that she had received reports that her son had been beaten by a police officer and tourism police officer in San Pedro. Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid said they had no evidence of this and were waiting for Williams to regain his ability to speak so he could tell them what had happened. Unfortunately, he will never get that chance as over the weekend Denfield Williams died. But it appears he may not have died from his injuries, and may in fact have been murdered. Here the story gets even stranger because the man the family believes is responsible for the death, Allen Garbutt-Bol, is HIV positive and was featured in a story News 5 did back in November. Why Garbutt-Bol went into Williams’ room and touched him and the medical equipment he was hooked up to is now under investigation and Garbutt-Bol has been arrested.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
It is alleged that sometime during visiting hours on Saturday evening, thirty-three year old Allen Garbutt-Bol walked into the Medical Ward of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. He reportedly entered the room where patient thirty-one year old Denfield Williams lay semi-conscious. Demetra Williams, who was at her brother’s bedside, says Garbutt-Bol introduced himself as a doctor and then proceeded to do a physical examination on her brother.
Demetra Williams, Sister of Deceased
“As he walked in the room the first thing he did was cut off the heart, the thing weh beat the heart. As he get in, he says, “I know unu noh know me, but I dah Allen from Mango Creek,” and he start to introduce himself. He says, “I work at this hospital for so many years and now I become a doctor.” He says, “I am a very good friend of Denfield and I was sent to check him.” Me and my sister were sitting right there; we allowed him to check my brother because he claimed to be a doctor. The first thing he does, after he done cut off the heart machine, was check the pulse. He asked for the time, I do ah so (showed him her watch) and he say, “No I don’t want it that way, I prefer you take off your watch and give it to me.” I took off the watch and give it to that man. He start to check. He tell me, “He is not normal, he is pumping one forty-seven for one minute.” I tell ah, “how come he noh the pump normal and then according to the next doctors by Monday is going to recover all over again and he will be able to be speaking again?” He start to check, he start to touch, and my sister Rose ask him, “what’s all those instruments for.” He said, “this one is for antibiotics, this one for drips, this one”-he start to tell us everything. Then he draw fi we attention by saying, “Gyal, his mouth di drool.” And yes, it’s true my brother my di drool. He says, “you noh have no tissue?” I tell ah, “No sir, but I have a rag.” And I went to the bag and get a rag while my sister was behind me waiting for the rag. And in that seconds I don’t know what he had done, all I notice is that my brother start to perform different, different. When we get up back with the rag, his hand was all over his chest inside the clothes and he was performing different, different, totally different this patient di behave. My sister tell me, touch yah, Demetra, Denfield noh the breathe. And I touch his belly instead of his throat and when I touch his belly I tell ah, “He stop breathe.” Immediately I run fi a nurse and say, “Nurse please help me my brother stop breathe.” The nurse come in and seh, “your brother dead.” I tell ah, “He cannot be dead a doctor just left.” She said that is not a doctor; he claimed to be that boy’s relative. I tell ah, “No! He killed my brother.” and I run down behind him and the doctor, all the people… the scream that I did that evening, I scream so hard that everybody’s attention went there. He di escape inna the elevator and I run the stairs down. I meet my common-law and my brother and I ask them, please hold that man because that man just kill my brother. They detain the man and bring ah back to the hospital. And I ask ah, the doctors and the nurses ask ah, why he touch that patient, what he had done to you wrong? He had no answers to give, no answers to give. And so I ask ah if he had anything against my brother? I ask him to his face, I tell ah, “Allen look pan me eyes to eyes and give me one answer, what you have done to my brother?” He said, “Nothing, you think any send me come kill your brother?” I tell ah, “That di mek you give me the belief now as you ask me the question.” I tell ah, “but one thing before you leave from yah, you have to give me some answers. I need some answers. I need you to give me what you done to him and who sent you if anybody sent you.”
Investigations so far reveal that something did indeed happen to cause Williams’ pump ventilator machine to stop working. K.H.M.H. Chief Executive Officer, Alvaro Rosado, told the press that Garbutt-Bol, who is HIV positive, was authorized to only counsel patients living with the disease. Garbutt-Bol, who has worked with the Alliance Against AIDS, is also a member of the HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme Advisory Board.
Dr. Alvaro Rosado, C.E.O., Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital
“What he did was totally wrong and totally out of order. The only information we have as to what he did was what was given by the sisters, because during visiting hours we do not interfere with the patients, and we have to recall that Mr. Williams was in the company of this two sisters. It was not that he was under any medical observation at the time.”
Dr. Rosado says after Williams’ sister reported to them that after Williams stopped breathing, Garbutt-Bol promised to go and call a nurse, but he never returned. According to Miss Williams, she has known Garbutt-Bol since he was a little boy, but never thought he would kill her son. Dr. Rosado says the matter is now in the police’s hands, but he does not believe the hospital should be held responsible for the incident.
Dr. Alvaro Rosado
“As a hospital we have visiting hours where relatives and friends visit patients and we do not restrict relatives and friends from talking, touching, holding, feeding, counselling, whatever. The deceased at this time was in the company of two sisters. We do not normally post a security guard, nurse, and doctor with every patient.”
Demetra Williams
“My brother’s condition was very perfect before he get in that room because when I arrived Saturday morning at this hospital to do the visit, my mother left and we do the other shift. When we get in there it was so powerful that I tell ah, “Denfield, dah me, Mark, and Betty come look for you, you recognise we?” Yes, he shake his head. I tell ah, “If you di hear we squeeze my hand.” And I get out the Bible and put it at Psalms ninety-one and I tell ah, “You know what this means, if anybody dah your enemy come in yah, God wah chase them out.” And then he started to cry. When Allen get in that hospital my brother had a different, different reaction. He just started to move his head and cannot stop, like this is my enemy.”
Police say they will continue to hold Garbutt-Bol in custody and if examinations reveal that he caused Williams death, he will be charged accordingly. Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.
A post mortem was conducted on Williams late this evening. According to police, the doctor told them that he was suffering from a number of health problems including a bad heart, but he has so far been unable to determined whether or not Garbutt-Bol contributed to the death as at this time the results of the post-mortem is inconclusive and they will need to do further test on some body tissue. The doctor also says the body showed no signs of having being beaten. Dr. Rosado denied allegations that Garbutt-Bol was involved in another patient incident at K.H.M.H., but he says that matter involved a confrontation with a staff member. Rosado says the only way Garbutt-Bol became aware that Williams was hospitalised is that just before the alleged incident he had spoken with one of the victim’s brother who told him that Denfield was in the hospital.
