We may be on the verge of a breakthrough in the case of the deaths of three people in a Boone, North Carolina hotel this past spring from carbon monoxide poisoning--enough to merit a repost from yesterday. A grand jury is due to hear evidence in the case--and if I'm reading this right, there could potentially be indictments as early as Monday afternoon.
A grand jury in Boone is expected to hear evidence Monday about the carbon monoxide poisonings last year at the Best Western hotel in Boone.
Three people died in the hotel’s Room 225, and a fourth person suffered life-threatening injuries. The state is already pursuing possible civil penalties, and it will be up to the grand jury whether criminal charges are filed.
The grand jury is scheduled to convene Monday morning, weather permitting, and the district attorney’s office has announced a 4 p.m. news conference.
Daryl Jenkins, 73, and his wife, Shirley Jenkins, 72, were the first to die in Room 225. Visiting from Longview, Wash., their bodies were found on the morning of April 16 with no evidence of foul play. On June 8, seven weeks later, 11-year-old Jeffrey Williams of Rock Hill died in the same room and his mother, Jeannie, nearly died.
For those who don't remember, the culprit was
a malfunctioning pool heater located one floor below the room. That heater had been moved over from another hotel owned by the same company that owned the Best Western. Not only was it installed improperly, but hotel owner Appalachian Property Management never bothered to get a permit to install it. Investigators believe that heater not only killed Jeffrey and the Jenkinses and nearly killed Jeffrey's mother, but sickened 10 girls having a sleepover party in a room two floors above the heater that took place three days after the Jenkinses died.
According to a story that ran in the Charlotte Observer last month, the heater's exhaust pipe was severely corroded. Apparently gas leaked into the room through a hole in the fireplace, and possibly through the heating/AC unit as well. A hazmat team that tested the heater estimated that Jeffrey and his mom were exposed to as much as 343 parts per million--enough to make a person severely ill. Indeed, Jeanie Williams has mobility and cognitive problems that her husband, Darrell, says will only get worse with age due to being without adequate oxygen for 14 hours, if not longer. When the hazmat team ran its tests, there was so much carbon monoxide coming out of that heater that a monitor set up in the room where the sleepover took place registered 56 parts per million of CO--enough to make someone sick.
The State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors is seeking disciplinary action against the people who worked on the heater. However, it's already beyond dispute that this was a criminal act. This company was too damned cheap, lazy or both to get a simple permit for the heater and see that it was properly installed. And now, they may end up having to pay several times what it would have cost to get the proper permit and keep the heater in good repair. And not just in monetary terms either--by all rights, the owners of this company need to GO TO PRISON.