COLUMBUS, Ohio — Five more witnesses took the stand in the murder trial for Dr. William Husel on Thursday.
Husel is accused of ordering fatal doses of fentanyl to be given to 14 patients under his care.
The defense has argued Husel was providing comfort care to dying patients during his time as the overnight physician in Mount Carmel’s Intensive Care Unit.
Prosecutors initially chose to focus their case on 25 patients who got 500 micrograms of fentanyl or more. In January, they chose to dismiss 11 charges.
The jury heard from a doctor, a nurse and three relatives of some of those patients.
Yussuf Ibrow was an ICU nurse at Mount Carmel West when Husel was there. He was questioned about his involvement with Bonnie Austin, one of those patients in the case.
He testified Husel ordered 600 micrograms of fentanyl and other medications to Austin. He said the nurse removed her breathing tube and she died 30 minutes later.
One of the family members on the stand was Albert Bellisari, who grew up in Columbus with nine siblings – one of which was Joanne. She died in 2015 at the hospital.
The defense asked Bellisari if he knew his sister was going to die if they took her off life support.
“No, I didn't know that. When you take someone off the tube there is a possibility they may open their eyes. but 99% or 95% sure she was going to go but there was still hope.”
Thursday marked the end of the fourth week of the trial. Testimony will continue in the case on Monday.