`I LIED'; ANGEL OF DEATH DENIES KILLING 50.

Byline: Eric Wahlgren Daily News Staff Writer

The self-described ``angel of death'' who admitted killing as many as 50 terminally ill patients at Glendale Adventist Medical Center now says he made up the entire confession in a confused attempt to end his own life.

In partial transcripts released Wednesday of interviews to be broadcast on two television magazine shows, respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar recants statements to police that he expedited the deaths of patients during an eight-year span that ended in August.

``I lied. I fabricated the confession,'' Saldivar told ``Extra'' anchor Maureen O'Boyle during an interview scheduled to air today at 7 p.m. on KNBC-TV (Channel 4).

``I want to set things straight, I still have a conscience,'' said the 28-year-old Tujunga resident.

But Glendale Police Department investigators, who have been building a murder case against the respiratory care therapist since his confession on March 11, said Wednesday that they believe a crime did occur, despite Saldivar changing his story.

``We continue to believe that we have enough evidence out there to warrant an investigation,'' Glendale Police Sgt. Ricky Young said.

``I was looking to die''

On the ABC News magazine show ``20/20'' to be aired Friday at 10 p.m. on KABC-TV (Channel 7), Saldivar told a reporter that he wanted to commit suicide but lacked the courage to kill himself.

Saldivar said he decided to fabricate the story because he believed a chilling confession would send him to the gas chamber.

``All I can say is that I'm sorry and it didn't happen. It's not true,'' Saldivar told correspondent Elizabeth Vargas.

``But if they died, they died cause it was God's will, not because of me,'' Saldivar said.

``I wanted the system to do to me what I couldn't do to me,'' he said.

``I was looking to die. I wanted to die. . . . I figured, you know, one death isn't gonna be enough for the death penalty so I said two. And then I started to cry because I was ending my life.''

Saldivar has been in hiding since his arrest and subsequent release by Glendale police in March. He has not been charged with a crime. He did not return calls for comment on Wednesday.

``It's not as easy to kill''

Young called Saldivar's latest statements ``self-serving,'' adding that people who confess to police often recant later, once they realize what they have done.

``Anytime that we have a suspect, the first time that they interview is the most important interview,'' Young said. ``Usually it is untainted. Usually it is more accurate. Over time, they become self-serving statements.''

Officials at Glendale Adventist declined to comment on Saldivar's television interviews, saying that they would watch the programs before responding.

During the ``20/20'' interview, Saldivar dismissed his earlier statements that he had killed terminally ill patients over an eight-year period by cutting off their oxygen supply or injecting them with lethal drugs.

``It's not as easy to kill a patient as it sounds,'' Saldivar said. ``Anytime a patient is that sick, there's always more than one person in the room. It's not easy to do that stuff.''

Saldivar denied co-worker Bob Baker's report to police that he had once spotted dangerous drugs in Saldivar's locker.

Saldivar labeled Baker's statements a ``plan to get rid of me'' by a ``guy that hates me.''

The interview transcripts do not explain why the Verdugo Hills High School graduate wanted to kill himself. Instead, they detail what Saldivar said was a hastily-devised plan to make up a startling confession. Saldivar also told ``20/20'' that he took Valium before the police questioning.

``I couldn't believe how I started to embellish,'' Saldivar said.

``The detectives asked me for a motive. I couldn't think of one. Then I thought of Jack Kevorkian. He has a lot of people who follow him, who believe in him. And then I made the split decision to go that route, right on the spot. To see them out of their misery.''

No suicidal signs

Young said police would watch the interviews, but that ``very little weight is given to what he is saying at this point.''

Saldivar's original confession was not coerced, Young said. Saldivar came to the station on his own for an interview after the hospital received an anonymous tip that a respiratory care therapist had ``helped a patient die fast,'' Young said.

Saldivar waived his Miranda rights and proceeded to confess to as many as 50 killings at the hospital, court records show. The interview stopped after Saldivar asked for an attorney once investigators started to set up a polygraph test, Young said.

Young said investigators did not notice any signs that Saldivar might be suicidal.

Saldivar was fired and his license to practice was suspended and could eventually be revoked, officials with the State Respiratory Care Board said.

The police investigation has extended to other hospitals where Saldivar worked, including Thompson Memorial Medical Center in Burbank, which is now Vencor Hospital Burbank.

Burbank Police Chief Dave Newsham said a Burbank resident had contacted police about possible mercy killings at Thompson Memorial, but he said investigators so far have no evidence that any crimes occurred at that facility.

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Photo

PHOTO (color) Former respiratory care therapist Efren Saldivar, 28, is interviewed by Elizabeth Vargas for the ABC program ``20/20.''

ABC