Glendale Hospital Respiratory Worker to Appear on TV

The Glendale hospital worker who allegedly told police that he killed 40 to 50 people will take his case to a nationwide television audience this week.

Officials with ABC’s “20/20” and the syndicated news magazine “Extra” said Monday they will broadcast taped interviews with Efren Saldivar, the 28-year-old respiratory therapist who purportedly confessed to killing terminally ill patients at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

Representatives of both shows said they offered no money for the interviews, the first since Saldivar’s alleged confession was revealed March 27. They declined to give details.

“Extra,” which is broadcast locally on KNBC-TV Channel 4, will air its interview Thursday at 7 p.m. The “20/20” segment will be shown Friday at 10 p.m. on KABC-TV Channel 7.

Eddie Saldivar, Efren’s brother and the family spokesman, has said that Efren wants to tell his side of the story to the public.

An independent story broker, who helps arrange network television interviews with elusive newsmakers, said he set up Efren Saldivar’s appearances.

The broker, who asked not to be identified, also said no money changed hands but declined to comment further.

In an interview last week, Eddie Saldivar told The Times: “When he comes out, my brother has to go in front of the cameras. They have to see his eyes.”

In the first days after the allegations against Saldivar became public, Eddie Saldivar strongly denied that his brother had confessed to police. But in more recent interviews, his denials have become more enigmatic.

For instance, Eddie Saldivar demanded that the media stop referring to his brother as the “angel of death,” a term Efren Saldivar said described himself, according to the alleged confession. However, Eddie told The Times, “ ‘angel of mercy’ would be OK.”

Asked whether the phrase “angel of mercy” allowed for the possibility that Efren Saldivar had actually confessed, Eddie Saldivar said such a revelation would have to wait for the proper forum.

Eddie Saldivar also declined to repeat his contention that the confession was false, instead emphasizing that it had been manipulated.

“How it turned out was how the police wanted it to sound,” Saldivar said. “They know they didn’t have anything.”

Hospital officials, meanwhile, are setting up a task force to deal with the hundreds of calls they have received from relatives worried that their loved ones may have died prematurely.

They have fired four other respiratory care workers, placed one on suspension and begun restructuring the leadership of the respiratory care unit. They declined to give any reason for the actions.