Efren Saldivar

After 20 exhumations, six cadavers had evidence of a lethal concentration of Pavulon. On March 12, 2002 Saldivar pleaded guilty to those six counts of murder and received six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He is incarcerated in California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran.

His medical employment was ended on March 13, 1998. Shortly afterward, he confessed to 50 murders (a confession he later retracted). In searching for evidence that would be strong enough to obtain a court conviction, the police exhumed the remains of patients who had died while Saldivar had been on duty and been buried (rather than cremated). The marker that was being sought was unusually high levels of Pavulon in the cadaver, as this drug remains identifiable for many months (unlike succinylcholine chloride and morphine which are decomposed into innocuous compounds relatively rapidly).

Born in Brownsville, Texas, he graduated from the College of Medical and Dental Careers in North Hollywood, California in 1988. He obtained work as a respiratory therapist employed by the Glendale Adventist Medical Center, working the night shift when there were fewer staff on duty.

Efren Saldivar (born September 30, 1969) is an American serial killer who murdered patients while working as a respiratory therapist in the state of California.