Doctoring the Truth
Welcome to Doctoring the Truth, a podcast where two dedicated audiologists dissect the world of healthcare gone rogue. Explore jaw-dropping stories of medical malfeasance, nefariousness, and shocking breaches of trust. The episodes provide deep dives that latch onto your curiosity and conscience. It's a podcast for truth-seekers craving true crime, clinical insights, and a dash of humor.
Doctoring the Truth
Nefarious Nurses: The Lethal Lovers of Alpine Manor (Part 1)
Trust is the cornerstone of healthcare. When families place loved ones in nursing homes, they're entrusting strangers with the wellbeing of those they cherish most. This trust was shattered at Alpine Manor Nursing Home in the late 1980s when two nurse's aides transformed a place of healing into a killing ground.
Gwendolyn Graham and Kathy Wood formed a toxic relationship that quickly spiraled into murder. The victims? The most vulnerable residents—those with dementia or those who couldn't communicate, carefully selected because they couldn't fight back or tell anyone what happened. Their method was chillingly simple: suffocation with a washcloth that left almost no evidence behind.
The story becomes even more disturbing when examining their backgrounds. Graham, bearing the physical and emotional scars of childhood abuse, was prone to anger and emotional detachment. Wood, described as highly manipulative and controlling, had a history of deception and had openly wondered "what it would be like to stab somebody." Their relationship became a perfect storm of psychological dysfunction—a codependent bond where increasingly extreme behaviors became normalized.
What makes this case particularly haunting is how these women exploited the blind spots in our healthcare system. Their murders remained undetected not just because of careful planning, but because society often overlooks the elderly and disabled. The victims' struggles to communicate or their confusion was used against them, their final moments punctuated by bewilderment as caregivers became killers.
As we explore this case, we confront uncomfortable questions about how we protect those who cannot protect themselves. What safeguards failed? How can we better screen those we entrust with our most vulnerable? And perhaps most importantly, how do we ensure that these forgotten victims receive the justice and dignity they deserve?
Subscribe to hear the conclusion of this disturbing case, including the trial that raised serious questions about truth, manipulation, and whether justice was truly served for the victims of Alpine Manor.
Sources for this episode include:
- Cauffiel, Lowell. Forever And Five Days: The Chilling True Story of Love, Betrayal and Serial Murder in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Pinnacle, 1997. ISBN 0-7860-0469-X
- Gwendolyn Graham and Cathy Wood - Wikipedia
- Snapped: Killer Couples, Season 2, Episode 2 (Oxygen Network)
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Stay safe, and stay suspicious...trust, after all is a delicate thing!
hello, hello hello hi jenna how are you?
Speaker 1:I'm good, I'm tired.
Speaker 2:After that time, change business yeah, and you decided to travel during the time change to a different time zone, so how confused is your body right now my body doesn't know what's happening right now at all.
Speaker 1:I'm at a conference, and I think that's the general consensus of everyone here is we're all just so tired, so you're in.
Speaker 2:Pittsburgh, pittsburgh, coming live from Pittsburgh we got the Oilers, we got the Flyers, I don't know anything else. Yeah, I mean I don't do sports, so I just thought I'd sound.
Speaker 1:I was like, say, the Philadelphia Eagles. And then I was like that's just the ones.
Speaker 2:I think Philly and Pittsburgh, that's different, right.
Speaker 1:Pittsburgh Steelers right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's say that I'm sure we'll have people.
Speaker 1:I'm sure we'll have a new correction section next week. That's kind of embarrassing. I'm blaming time change on our lack of NFL knowledge because time change yeah, I'll put in this little plug for NFL knowledge um for all of our Minnesota Vikings fans out there. Did you see? Darnold was signed by the Seahawks.
Speaker 2:I'm from Seattle. I'm from Seattle, woohoo Go Seahawks. Okay.
Speaker 1:So for our lack of knowledge everywhere else. There's that Darnold was traded to the Seahawks.
Speaker 2:Well, I hope that's a good thing.
Speaker 1:I have no idea.
Speaker 2:They need all the help they can get.
Speaker 1:Go Chiefs, go Taylor's boyfriend.
Speaker 2:Alright. Well, that unexpected sports update, I know wow.
Speaker 1:Go sports, go sports. We need to hit the correction section here.
Speaker 2:For real. What did I?
Speaker 1:do this time. No, no, no, this one was me. I forgot I needed to put this in the last one, but I completely forgot it was a thing. So if we think back to the big puke, michael Swango, in episode one or the part one of his dealio, I had said a brown star that he got in the military. It was a shit stain. Yeah, the shit stain award. He does deserve a shit stain award. But however, thank you to my friend Bree, who thank you for your service. Bree did serve in the military and she corrected me that the brown star is not a thing, it's a bronze star.
Speaker 2:Bronze, bronze. Oh, listen, bree, terry, and she corrected me that the brown star is not a thing. Um, it's a bronze star, bronze. Oh listen, brie. Thank you for your service and um, thank you for you know, letting us know, and no shade to those with the bronze star.
Speaker 1:I honestly think that Swango earned a brown one, so hopefully we're off the hook there yeah, I feel like, yes, um, and then I would just like to give a quick disclaimer that I am staying at, uh, the old westin in downtown pittsburgh. I have zero control over any neighbors slamming their doors and I feel like the toilets flushing are a little loud, so I hope it's's not going to be loud for you guys, but if it is sorry about it, we in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2:You know what we're about being real and the least amount of editing possible until we get rich and famous and can afford someone who knows what they're doing so until then. Dog barking at toilet flushing it's all part and parcel of what makes us real.
Speaker 1:I'm excited that the day I fly home, I'll be able to tune into our new episode. So, speaking of what are we going to be talking about today?
Speaker 2:Well, today is episode seven and I'm going to break it to you. It's part one. This is a two parter. It's a two parter. We'll be lucky if it's not a three-parter. Oh my gosh. Yeah, no, okay, I'll try and I'll, I'll reign it in, we'll be a two-parter. But, um, the title is nefarious.
Speaker 2:Nurses, the lethal lovers of alpine manor nursing home. Buckle up, because today's case is as disturbing as it is bizarre. Today we're covering the case of Gwendolyn Graham and Kathy Wood, the lethal lovers of Alpine Manor nursing home. This case has it all allegations of sadistic murder, a toxic romance and a trial where the truth is murkier than the prosecution made it seem. These two women were supposed to be caregivers. At the heart of it, nurses' aides are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of the patients under their care. Nursing homes are meant to be places of care, comfort and healing. But in the late 1980s, alpine Manor became the hunting ground for these two nurses' aides, who turned their patients into pawns in a twisted game of love and power. Gwendolyn Graham and Kathy Wood weren't just caregivers, they were killers. So what went wrong? What turned this nursing home into a murderous hunting ground of horrors?
Speaker 2:Let's get into it, but first I have a trigger warning for those who need it. This episode will contain mentions of elder abuse, sexual assault, attempted suicide and murder. Mentions of elder abuse, sexual assault, attempted suicide and murder. The primary source for today's show includes the book Forever and Five Days by Lowell Coffiel. The remaining sources will be listed in our show notes. So let's return to the iconic 80s, a time of fluorescent eyeshadow, bold geometric patterns and tons of hairspray meant almost exclusively to bring bangs back to Jesus. Get it, girls.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen, woo Woo. What a time.
Speaker 2:Grand Rapids, michigan, in the 80s, was described as clean, cultural and free from corruption. By the end of the decade it was ranked as the fifth most moved to city in America. Oh wow. The city of 200,000 was known for its office furniture which allowed for low unemployment rates and a stable economy. Michigan was known for a strong, diversified Christian background, with impressive bell towers of 19th century Baptist missionaries punctuating the skyline. Jim and Tammy Faye Baker were from nearby Muskegon.
Speaker 2:Grand Rapids was most influenced by the Christian Reformed Church as, beginning in the 1840s, the area was largely populated by Dutch Calvinists. They were shunned in the Netherlands, and so they settled across the globe in places like South Africa and Western Michigan. Go figure across the globe in places like South Africa and Western Michigan. Later, dutch Catholics settled there as well, and by the end of the 19th century a third of the population of Grand Rapids was born in Holland. Needless to say, the culture in Grand Rapids was largely conservative, to the point where one resident claimed that their local grocery store would not carry root beer because it had the word beer in it. There was little social tolerance for minorities or political differences of opinion. One school district banned Halloween and Valentine's Day celebrations at their schools as they were not considered educational. One library banned a book about racism and poverty. Another library banned a book by EE Cummings. And despite this austerity, there was a large gay population in Grand Rapids in the late 1980s. Some described it as a natural reaction to the stark gender roles of the strict religious conservatives.
Speaker 2:But let's talk about Alpine Manor. At the time the story takes place, alpine Manor Nursing Home in Grand Rapids, michigan, was a standard long-term care facility. Like many nursing homes, it had problems overworked staff, low wages, elderly residents, a vulnerable population often overlooked by society. As healthcare providers, we can relate. Am I right, amanda?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and when you have patients who are already vulnerable, many suffering from dementia and other conditions that make them unable to fend for themselves, that makes conditions ripe for those with nefarious intent.
Speaker 1:I hate this so much already, I know it's going to be so sad.
Speaker 2:It's going to be so sad, guys. The name Alpine Manor suggests some majestic chalet nestled in a mountain range, but instead it was described as a single-story drab, boxy building that looked like it was ripped out of a strip mall and plopped in the middle of a bunch of farmland. That's quite so charming, isn't it? Oh, the building was initially called English Hills when it opened in 1973, even though it was the middle of flat cornfields when it opened in 1973, even though it was the middle of flat cornfields. So the new owners changed the name in 1984, but they kept the nursing station designations that were inspired by the English Hills original name. The stations were called Abbey Lane, buckingham, camelot and Dover. Well, that's kind of cute. Yeah, the layout looked like two square buildings joined together by a common side. Each square was hollowed out in the center by a courtyard and each leg of the square was a hallway with an average of 16 rooms. Two patients to a room lining each leg.
Speaker 1:So there, were 207 beds all together. Jeepers, creepers, that's a lot, right, that's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, responsibilities for each hall and room were designated to each nursing station. So Abbey Lane covered halls 100 to 200, buckingham 300 to 400, camelot 500 and part of 600, and Dover was part of 600 and 700 hall. Each room was divided into beds one and two. Bed one was near the window, bed two was near the door and there was a dividing curtain between the beds. This makes me so sad, because then the person who's in bed two near the door never gets to see out the window.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean hopefully they leave the door open and there's some hallway traffic so they have something to watch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the halls and the stations were color-coded pink for abby, yellow for buckingham, powder blue for dover and green for camelot. According to the us department of health and human services, about 70 percent of people aged 65 and older will need some form of long-term, long-term care during their lifetime. This includes care in a nursing home, assisted living facility or at home with support services. While the exact likelihood varies based on factors like health, family support and financial resources, studies suggested that approximately 35% of men and 50% of women who reach 65 will need nursing home care at some point. Women tend to have a higher likelihood because they live longer on average. Alpine was a nursing home and every patient needed nursing care. This could range from daily meds, a good diet and supervision to total care for patients who needed nursing staff for everything except practically breathing. Patients could have cancer, alzheimer's, organic brain syndrome, incontinence, tracheostomies, muscle disease, severe arthritis. They even had inhabitants from state mental facilities, like patients with schizophrenia, when the mental state facilities were overflowing, wow.
Speaker 2:Really had the whole gamut. There they did and there were. No, it wasn't like they had a memory unit and a mental health disorder unit. Everybody was just sort of willy-nilly.
Speaker 2:This is where we had an open room Yep At its height. Alpine Manor had more than 70 employees, including supervisors, rns, lpns and nurses' aides, as well as one social worker, an activity director and her assistant. In Alpine, an aide was assigned a group of patients for an entire shift. Nurses' aides were responsible for feeding, bathing and caring for residents, so you could imagine that an aide would make the difference between comfort and misery for a resident. Although the aides were at the bottom of the pay scale, they were the ones who had the most contact with patients.
Speaker 2:Can confirm Did that work once.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, you did. That's right. An aspiring nurse's aide would go through a five-day orientation run by a registered nurse. The orientation included videotapes of the daily routines that they used. That showed how to turn patients at two-hour intervals to avoid decubitus, ulcers or bed sores, and they learned the stages of a deteriorating and common skin condition and when you should apply a balm versus an aerosol called Granulix for open sores. They learned how to lift and transfer patients, feed them and take vitals. They learned when and how to apply restraints such as felt cuffs for legs and hands and pelvic restraints to hold the lower body in place. Patient hygiene lessons consisted of instruction on daily sponge baths. Once a week, patients received a complete wash in a shower chair. This chair had an open seat like a toilet for cleaning the lower body. The patient sat naked and restrained if necessary, while the aide employed a handheld shower spray. Water temperature was critical, but still some patients would fight back regardless of water temperature. And with that grim description, I'm going to read an excerpt from the book that I mentioned Forever in Five Days. The author spent a lot of time with the victim's families and reading medical records and talking to staff, and so this is from the viewpoint of the first victim named Marguerite Chambers, as the author envisioned it, so it starts.
Speaker 2:A low-pressure front had just pulled a white sheet of snow over Grand Rapids when Ed Chambers arrived at the Alpine Manor for his Sunday night visit. Later the mercury would hit the single digits. The cold that struck when skies cleared in the dead of the Michigan winter. He called Marguerite's name inside as he turned a corner into her room. He grasped her shaking hand once more. He spent about an hour with her, telling her things of little consequence and talking to her as though she were normal. He would never know if she understood. And he stayed nearly an hour. It was between seven and eight o'clock when he rose to go.
Speaker 2:On January 18th Marguerite Chambers was marking day 1,293 as a patient of Alpine Manor. She'd been institutionalized nearly five years. Twelve years had passed since she'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Outside her room 614-1, aides were working from room to room. They were rounding up some patients and changing others and preparing all of Alpine Manor for the night. Most aides were occupied. Others were taking mid-shift breaks. At 8 pm licensed nurses would begin going from room to room passing out evening medication. As Ed stepped outside he noticed a few cars in the lot. Most of them belonged to employees. Three inches of snow had kept many visitors home for the night. There was little traffic on Four Mile Road. The snow creaked beneath his feet. A light wind made the snaps on the alpine flagpole ring in hollow tones. The clanging seemed to sound more profound in the cold.
Speaker 2:Marguerite had always loved the waltzes. She'd dance to them freely, dipping and sweeping across the floor. One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three. Strauss had no equal. The emperor waltz, vienna, blood tales from the Vienna woods. She loved the blue Danube waltz. It rushed and wavered, moving like the spirit, like the great river had carried it away. The blue Danube played regularly in 614-1. Once a week A regular visitor brought the music. She was a new face for Marguerite. The chipper activities staffer brought a portable tape player, plugged it in and then the Strauss waltzes began. One, two, three. One, two, three, one.
Speaker 2:In her predictable universe, marguerite Chambers had come to experience two changes beginning in the days before Christmas. One was the music courtesy of a new in-room program and the other was an aberration, an intrusion. It did not soothe her like the waltzes. It quickened the fiercest of all involuntary impulses. It unleashed her raw will to live. Suppose she could have articulated the first incident in detail. In that case she might have reported it as a quirk, a momentary loss of respiratory rhythm, like a chronic snorer stuck between breaths. Then the cessation came suddenly and with much fury. There was unrelenting pressure across her nostrils and the underside of her jaw there was terrycloth, its loop pile. So compressed it dug into her skin like dull darts Without air. She lost consciousness. When she awoke and survived, her mind may still have been capable of associating the experience with a familiar face, a pair of hands or the smell of swing cream. On Christmas Day she may have associated the attack with the touch of a terrycloth and a wash towel around the lips. These remained Marguerite's secrets. Her nurse only knew that her pulse was running a little over a beat per second and that her blood pressure was in the normal limits for a woman of 60 years.
Speaker 2:All through Alpine's third shift she'd been very restless the previous night. Her limbs were exceptionally kinetic. She ran a fever of 101 the night before. That could have easily caused all the movement. After Ed left it began. There may have been some notice of the intruder's presence, or perhaps the attack came suddenly and Marguerite was jolted from her sleep. The traverse rod hissed as a hand pulled the divider curtain. There may have been the sounds of a polyester uniform rubbing against itself. Two hands positioned her head, resting it squarely on the back of her skull. Maybe this was sudden, or maybe it was gentle, like an oral surgeon readying a patient for his handiwork. Of one thing Marguerite Chambers was confident Air Quite.
Speaker 2:Suddenly there was no air. There was absolutely none. The terrycloth was rolled One covered Marguerite's nostrils and the other was under her chin. One covered Marguerite's nostrils and the other was under her chin, one squeezed and the other thrust up violently, pushing her toothless gums together. Marguerite began to thrash. Her groans were guttural deep within her belly. As the need to breathe became more urgent, her cheeks began to puff and collapse. Her lungs were sucking for the pathetically few cubic inches of oxygen that were left there before her mouth was slammed shut.
Speaker 2:Perhaps trauma stimulated memory, as can happen so near death. There was the old farmland in Walker. There was a nursery across the golden field. Ed, jan, gary and Ed Jr were there. The lake glistened at the family cottage. She loved water skiing for the children and putting on a show. She loved scrabble and she loved dancing. The waltzes played the blue denube. She was waltzing freely. One, two, three. One, two, three, one, perhaps not. The muscles strengthened by her fetal rocking drew deep upon their incessant conditioning and in a great effort she twisted her head. But nothing could have prepared her for this. Her last movements were spasmodic. In the end, in her final moments of consciousness, her eyes couldn't help but look at the face above her. Michelangelo might have painted it on a sistine chapel cherub, but it belonged to an angel of death um, anybody else get a real tight chest there and just yeah.
Speaker 1:And then the chills and the one, two, three, one, oh so I'm afraid it doesn't get much better.
Speaker 2:But um, both kathy wood and gwen graham were scheduled to be off on Monday, the day after Marguerite Chambers died. On Tuesday they were scheduled to work a double shift, beginning on the second shift. Kathy called in an excuse for them both. Something was amiss in the basement. The water heater's broken. She told a supervisor. We're waiting for a repairman. Kathy and Gwen were home drinking. They were drinking alone. The hot water heater was located in the center of the basement, not far from the sewer drain and the little chimney door. Kathy later said she was especially afraid to descend the basement stairs during those two days. I thought maybe Marguerite would be down there and she'd get me, she said.
Speaker 2:On Monday night they played in the bedroom. One of them applied wrist restraints, lashing the hands of the other to the bed. One pulled a pair of tube socks from the dresser over her hands. One mounted the other straddling the other's body with her knees. One squeezed the other's mouth and nose. There would be no suffocation, though, only tears. The restraints were rapidly untied. I'm sorry. One of them kept saying I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Later the 45 spun on the turntable. Mel Carter was singing once again Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, make me tell you I'm in love with you. I'll love you forever. Gwen and Kathy said Now it's time for chart note. Chart note this is where we learn something about medicine and health care.
Speaker 2:Given what I've just read and what's about to come, I wanted to review the definitions of psychopathy, sociopathy, borderline personality, as much for myself as for our listeners. I know as true crime listeners, y'all likely know all this already, but I find it helpful to review, especially considering the very distinct personality disorders of Gwen and Kathy. So first we'll talk about antisocial personality disorder. The definition of antisocial personality disorder is a mental health condition characterized by a persistent pattern of disregard for the rights of others, deceitfulness, impulsivity and lack of remorse. It falls under the cluster B personality disorders, which are marked by dramatic, emotional or erratic behavior. So the acronym for this is ASPD. The key traits of ASPD are disregard for laws and social norms, like frequent rule breaking and why can't I say rule today? Rule breaking, it's not rural Criminal behavior. Deceitfulness and manipulation, like lying for personal gain or pleasure. Impulsivity and irresponsibility, like difficulty maintaining jobs or fulfilling obligations. Irritability and aggression, like physical fights, verbal abuse. Reckless behavior and lack of remorse. No guilt for harming others. So ASPD is a clinical diagnosis, whereas psychopathy and sociopathy are considered subtypes of ASPD.
Speaker 2:Psychopaths are more calculated, manipulative and less emotional. Sociopaths are more impulsive, emotionally reactive and aggressive. Causes and risk factors are genetics, brain abnormalities, like differences in the prefrontal cortex that affect particularly affecting impulse control. Childhood trauma, such as abuse, neglect in an unstable environment, and early behavioral problems like a conduct disorder before age 15 is a strong predictor. Psychopathy in particular is a personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, lack of empathy and manipulative tendencies.
Speaker 2:Psychopaths often appear charming, intelligent and calculated, but they lack genuine emotions. They plan their actions carefully and may maintain a stable job and relationships while engaging in unethical or criminal behavior behind the scenes. Brain studies suggest reduced activity in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex that are areas that are linked to emotions and impulse control. Sociopathy is more of an impulse and erratic version of psychopathy. So people with sociopathy are prone to outbursts, aggression, reckless behavior. They struggle with long-term planning. They have less ability to maintain jobs and relationships compared to psychopaths. Sociopaths do feel some emotions, but they have little regard for the rules or others' feelings. They're more likely to act impulsively and violently compared to psychopaths. So the key differences are that psychopaths are cold calculative. I just made up a word.
Speaker 1:I do like it.
Speaker 2:And manipulative, while sociopaths are impulsive and prone to emotional outbursts. And just to throw in a little, another one that I was wondering about borderline personality disorder, bpd. It's a mental health disorder characterized by intense emotions, unstable relationships and impulsive behaviors. People with BPD often fear abandonment, they experience rapid mood swings and may engage in self-destructive behaviors. Unlike psychopaths and sociopaths, bpd involves intense emotional sensitivity rather than a lack of emotion. So their relationships are often intense and unstable, swinging between idealization and devaluation of others. This disorder is thought to stem from a combination of genetics, brain chemistry and early trauma and neglect. So the key difference here is that, unlike psychopathy and sociopathy, which involve lack of empathy, bpd involves extreme emotional sensitivity and fear of abandonment. There are many challenges in treating sociopathy and psychopathy because a lot of these individuals aren't going to come forward voluntarily. They don't see their behavior as a problem. That's the nature of the disorder. But those that do seek treatment, they might do so because they're in legal trouble or they're being pressured by family or work.
Speaker 2:Traditional therapy is less effective because people with ASPD often manipulate the therapist or resist change. But all the usual talk therapies, psychotherapy approaches can help, such as cognitive behavioral therapy to help address impulsivity, aggression, distorted thinking patterns and encouraging one to think about consequences before acting. Mentalization-based therapy MBT focuses on helping the person understand their own emotions and other people's perspectives. Group therapy has less effectiveness and often can actually make things worse because some individuals might use it to manipulate others. There are medications although they're not FDA approved specifically for ASPD, approved specifically for ASPD, but like mood stabilizers to reduce impulsivity and aggression, antidepressants to deal with any concomitant depression or anxiety, and then atypical antipsychotics can help with aggression and impulsivity. So, while not everyone with ASPD is violent or a criminal, many high-profile criminals and con artists have exhibited ASPD traits. However, aspd can also appear in non-criminal settings like business, politics and leadership roles. Here's a few examples of criminal cases linked to ASPD Ted Bundy ever heard of him? Yeah, heard of him.
Speaker 1:He's from Washington, ted Bundy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, ted Bundy, I won't say Okay. Exhibited extreme, manipulation, charm, lack of empathy and deceitfulness while he committed brutal crimes.
Speaker 1:Bernie Madoff, which I think you alluded to him.
Speaker 2:The fraud stuff fraud case. Yeah, so he ran a massive ponzi scheme, lying to investors without remorse while he ruined thousands of lives. Um some non-criminal examples of aspd traits um my ex some individuals yeah I think we all don't know.
Speaker 2:Some, um some individuals with ASPD avoid breaking the law, but they still exhibit manipulative and exploitative behavior. Corporate scammers so executives who exploit employees, commit fraud or lie for financial gain without guilt. And con artists, people who deceive others for personal gain. And then you know, people get sucked in because they're charismatic and they appear trustworthy. This is not to say that every ruthless CEO or manipulative person has ASPD, but those with a persistent pattern of disregard for others, lack of remorse and manipulation may meet this criteria. So let's go back to the case and see if we can identify any of these traits as we go. They are nurses.
Speaker 1:I bet we're gonna find a couple.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think yes, gwen Graham. Gwen was 5'2 and stocky, with reddish brown, curly hair and a firm jaw. Gwen was prone to outbursts of anger and emotional detachment issues. She had a reputation as someone who could be both charming and intimidating. Gwendolyn Graham was born in Santa Monica, california, on August 6, 1963. Her family moved around a lot during their early childhood to Indiana, back to California, then to Tyler, texas, when she was nine.
Speaker 2:As a teenager, graham displayed antisocial tendencies and had trouble forming stable relationships. She reportedly struggled with deep-seated anger issues and had a fascination with the macabre. Despite these red flags, she managed to maintain a social charm that allowed her to form relationships, particularly with people she could manipulate or dominate. When she was 15, she traveled with a teen missionary group to the East Coast and then Africa. When her parents separated at age 17, she moved back to California to live with her father. Gwen's father was allegedly abusive to her and she was three months into her senior year in high school when she dropped out of Modesto High School and hitchhiked up the West Coast. Eventually she moved back to Tyler, texas, when she was 20. There she met, befriended and began a relationship with a woman named Fran. Gwen had many jobs by the time she was 21, she'd laid brick for Christian dorms in Liberia, shuttled pizza in California, delivered the Dallas Morning newspaper in East Texas and ran a cash register at two different gas stations in texas.
Speaker 2:But gwen always wanted to be a vet, so she tried to attend nursing school, as as you do, um, when you want a little different um at tyler junior college, but she dropped out shortly after and I couldn't find out why maybe she realized that was humans and not animals, I don't know. Yeah, um, well, it ain't Well. Uh, her girlfriend, Fran, moved to Michigan in search of a job opportunity there. Gwen loved motorcycles and she spent her spare time tinkering on her candy apple red Honda four 50. One day, while reading a biker magazine, she saw an advertisement for a paramedic program at a college in Grand Rapids. With $11 in her pocket she set off for Michigan. Impulsive anyone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got 11 bucks, let's do it.
Speaker 2:So soon after Gwen arrived in Grand Rapids, she began to doubt her relationship with Fran. It turns out that Fran may have painted her job opportunity and her life in Grand Rapids with a rosy hue. Fran was delivering newspapers and lived in a cramped apartment above a used car lot. Gwen decided Fran had changed and that Gwen needed to find her own way, which led to her application to Alpine Manor for a nurse's aid position. The assisting nursing administrator, margaret Widmeyer, was shocked at the state of the circular scars arranged in orderly rows on Gwen's forearms 19 on her left arm and 12 on her right. What happened to your arms, she asked. My father had a strange way with discipline. Gwen answered her head down.
Speaker 1:I don't like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Widmeyer later said she felt that Gwen was appreciative of the opportunity to work. She also liked Gwen's written responses to the application questions. Why do you want to work at this facility? I'm working, or plan to work my way through college and this job can provide good experience, since I plan to pursue a medical career as a paramedic. What can you give this facility? I listen, learn and work very hard. What do you expect from this facility? I expect nothing, so that I don't get disappointed.
Speaker 1:I mean, they were good answers.
Speaker 2:Yeah If you're us. No, yeah if you're us. So now we'll talk about Kathy. Kathy Wood was the opposite of Gwen, at least at first glance. Kathy was over six feet tall, weighing at times 250 to over 400 pounds, and she was an imposing character. However, she was described as graceful and charismatic. Her hair was dyed platinum blonde and her face was delicate, with an upturned nose and piercing eyes.
Speaker 2:Kathy Wood was born in 1962 in Michigan. Unlike Graham, she did not come from an abusive background. By most accounts, she had a relatively stable and uneventful childhood. However, those who knew her described her as highly manipulative and a habitual liar. She could always persuade others to do what she wanted. She was known to be deceptive and controlling even from a young age, often playing the victim to gain sympathy. She developed an early understanding of power dynamics, using charm and manipulation rather than physical force. Kathy Wood's early life and marriage played a significant role in shaping her manipulative tendencies and setting the stage for her deadly relationship with Gwendolyn Graham.
Speaker 2:Kathy Wood's first marriage was filled with emotional manipulation and dishonesty. She married Ken Wood, a man who initially saw her as sweet and caring, but soon realized her dark side. She frequently lied about small things, creating unnecessary drama to keep Ken off balance. She would fabricate emotional distress and fake crises to make Ken feel guilty. She always deflected responsibility onto Ken or someone else if something went wrong.
Speaker 2:Ken Wood later described Kathy as manipulative and emotionally suffocating. She would cry or act helpless when she wanted something, but could be so cold and calculating when she needed control. A little insight into Kathy would when her husband, who was coaching the Alpine Manors softball team, lost a fly ball. He turned to see the ball, zipping towards the stands and Kathy was holding their toddler baby girl up and cowering behind her, using her as a shield. What a mom, what a mom, oh my God. As their marriage deteriorated, kathy Wood sought emotional and physical validation elsewhere. She engaged in extramarital affairs, one of which involved another woman hinting at her growing interest in the same-sex relationships before she met Graham. Despite her affairs, she would still play the victim, accusing Ken of being the reason she was unhappy.
Speaker 1:What a victim.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she just ditched him and the baby to go off and do her own thing. Uh, instead of resolving conflicts, she'd escalate situations to make herself look like the wronged party. At one point, kenwood suspected her of cheating and lying about financial matters, but every time he confronted her, she turned it around on him, making him feel guilty for even questioning her. Her marriage was filled with deception, emotional manipulation and power struggles, all of which foreshadowed her later ability to control and influence Graham into committing murder. She had a pattern of twisting reality to fit her needs, often making herself appear like a victim. She could be charming and persuasive, and yet those that were close to her eventually saw her deception and controlling nature.
Speaker 2:She was an avid reader and gravitated towards stories of lust and crime. Okay, I'm not saying I'd judge her for that, but Her tastes ranged from the Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon to the Cradle Will Fall by Mary Higgins Clark, which is about a physician who murders many patients. She also liked nonfiction, reading the Life and Times of Gregory Rasputin, a study of a monk who manipulated the royalty of Russia with his irresistible psychopathic powers. Her own imagination was active as well. One night, kathy confessed to Ken that she'd always wondered what it'd be like to stab somebody. Oh my god, ken brushed it off as a passing fancy. No Ken, no Ken. Flag, many flags, a bouquet of flags.
Speaker 1:A bouquet of red flags for Valentine's Day, Ken oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Gwen was introduced to Kathy Wood by a woman she was sleeping with, who also worked at Alpine Manor, named Dawn Mail. They would often go to bars together after work and end up at Kathy's house playing drinking games. By the time Kathy Wood met Gwendolyn Graham at Alpine Manor Nursing Home, she'd already perfected her ability to manipulate others. Their attraction quickly turned into a passionate, obsessive relationship. They became inseparable and co-workers described them as openly affectionate. At work, often to an unprofessional degree, they fed off of each other's energy, creating a toxic dynamic where control and submission played key roles. Kathy's failed marriage and toxic relationships reinforced her belief that controlling people emotionally was easier than facing consequences herself. She recognized Graham's vulnerabilities, the history of abuse and emotional instability and exploited them to form an intense bond. Their relationship became toxic and codependent, with wood encouragingly, encouraging increasingly extreme behaviors to maintain control. And that, my listeners, is where we leave off.
Speaker 1:I don't like where this is headed. I don't love what we've built here.
Speaker 2:It seems like you don't like a little romance? You don't like a little meet cute?
Speaker 1:Hmm, I think, yeah, not the same definition, right? Yeah, I just still can't get over you drawing that picture in my head of sweet poor Marguerite.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, it's just terrible because and I should say, you know their crimes were, their victims were all perpetrated against those who needed that, what, what did I call it? Like total care is what they called it. Where they, they were non-verbal or even if they were, there were memory issues or alzheimer's and they weren't able to fend for themselves because they were like we talked about earlier. They were all types, um, and I don't know if I'm going to talk about this later or not, I don't think so but there was one instance where one of the nurses and I think it was Gwendolyn tried to suffocate a guy but he was too strong, like she picked the wrong. You know, he may have looked weak but he like was able to overcome it. And the sad thing is that, even if people are able, they're not nonverbal, but they're talking, they're speaking out. Other people don't believe them. They just share the ramblings of the you know, people with dementia.
Speaker 1:So it's terrifying.
Speaker 2:It's terrifying and tragic and yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I guess, thank you for bringing us that so far, and we will surely look forward to hearing the rest of that.
Speaker 2:But until then, Thank you to our listener that recommended it. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but it's definitely compelling reading and I think it's important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. I'm just not looking forward to the second half because I love old people so much and it's going to be so sad Probably, I assume.
Speaker 2:Well, I think I'm not going to. I will talk about the victims a little bit, but we are going to talk about, I think, the trial, because I kind of want your take, and I want listeners take, as to whether or not they think justice prevailed here.
Speaker 1:Oh dang, you really could have made this a three-parter, huh yeah, dang, it does not.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of a twisty ending. So okay.
Speaker 1:Well, we will be here with you for all the twists and turns. Until then, my friends, we've got a medical mishap story, medical mishaps. We would never get hired to do a jingle on a commercial, but that's okay.
Speaker 2:Well, maybe if we actually practice one.
Speaker 1:I mean maybe, yeah, it's kind of just whatever comes out of her mouth. Okay, so hang on. One second Type change Okay, much better. Let second Type change Okay, much better. Let me shake it off. Okay, now it's time for our medical mishap segment, and this week we have an email from a listener named Ray and she writes hello, jenna and Amanda, hello, hello. First off, I love your podcast and can't wait for Wednesday each week so I can get my fix. Aw, thank you, yay, thank you. I also get excited for Wednesdays, which is weird because I've already heard all of it, but it's fun to hear it back.
Speaker 1:Anyways here is my medical mishap when I was in my late teens. I had a surgical procedure. It wasn't supposed to require an overnight stay, but I had a negative reaction to the anesthesia and I could not stop vomiting.
Speaker 2:Oh, that sucks.
Speaker 1:The nausea was so intense and I was so incredibly sick. Unfortunately, my hospital room was shared with another patient, ugh Hate a double room, hate it. The patient happened to be undergoing bowel prep and was so sick herself that she couldn't make it to the bathroom, and so they brought in a portable bedside commode for her to empty her bowels. For what seemed like the entire time. I was there puking my guts out, hmm.
Speaker 2:Okay, so wait. So for our listeners, um, you know, if you're going to have to have a colonoscopy or something, if you haven't had the uh misfortune of having one of those, they give you stuff to clear out your, your, your intestines, and oh, it goes on for hours and hours. Yeah, and not a fun way. I can't imagine if you're feeling nauseous and having to have a neighbor right across the curtain from you.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I know it's really gross, okay, so she's puking her guts out yeah. Puking her guts out. I was like where am I? How was that in any way better than just sending me home sick? My mom went all mama bear we love a mama bear moment on the nurses and despite them claiming there were no other rooms, I was eventually moved. There were no other rooms. I was eventually moved.
Speaker 2:um, I will say, I'm not gonna say should I say um, hopefully God didn't do a discharge and that's why you got a room.
Speaker 1:Oh, amanda, I only got that verbiage from working behind the hospital administration. Okay, back to the story.
Speaker 2:I'm so sorry, ray, I interrupted your story you are such a good fit for this show. I mean, why are you surprised that? That's how, that's where your mind went and your experience has been, and thank you for that.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much thank you to our ctc and formerly ctc, now bam colleagues at the hospital bed allocation management. Thanks for all you do. Okay, um, I was eventually moved and I'm still traumatized by this. I hope your listeners never have to experience anything like this. Thank goodness for private rooms. Stay safe and stay suspicious, ray. Thank you, ray, for sending that in. Sorry, I interrupted your story seven times.
Speaker 2:Oh, but I can. I just say what a gut-wrenching story. Get it, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 1:I see what you did there You're so punny, I know Sorry everyone, we do, you did. There you're so punny, I know sorry everyone. Oh, you day, um, okay, sorry, the exhaustion's kicking in. Hey, jenna, what can we expect to learn about? So you kind of already told us a little bit.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it'll be part two of this horrific tale of nefarious nurses and their murderous rampage. We're going to learn more about the victims, the murders and the fiery culmination that resulted in betrayal, revenge and questionable justice. We'll don our psychology hats and dig deep into their psyches. Stay tuned to hear all the sordid details.
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