NAPA, Calif. – The murder of a Napa State Hospital employee by a criminally insane patient might have been a deliberate attack. Hospital staff and a patient reported threats made by Jess Massey against Donna Gross, as well as another employee.
Massey had been given a “ground pass” and was outside of his unit on the night of Gross’ murder. Three days after Gross was found strangled, a patient reported that Massey had told him that he planned to kill Gross, ABC7 reports. Two weeks before the attack, Massey reportedly threatened to kill another hospital worker.
Hospital employees are issued personal alarms to prevent such attacks, but they have proved unreliable. Gross used her alarm the night of her murder, but the resulting sirens in the hospital kitchen were reported as a false alarm. Gross’ daughter, Anna Bock, told ABC7 that her mother had grown more and more fearful of her work environment in the weeks leading up to her death. Bock blames a lack of security at the hospital for her mother’s murder.
The hospital recently issued new alarms to its employees. Workers say the sound emitted by these alarms is not loud enough to alert security or staff to an ongoing attack.
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