EX-COP WINS BADGE OF COURAGE.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

GLENDALE - A former Glendale police officer has been awarded the national Badge of Courage for leading the investigation of the notorious ``Angel of Death'' serial murder case.

John McKillop, a 20-year-veteran of the Glendale Police Department, received a plaque and pin earlier this month from the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is one of 10 recipients of the award, presented annually.

``I knew immediately back then it was a big case, but I was thinking in terms of investigations and ballistics, not notoriety,'' McKillop said Wednesday from his office in Santa Clarita, where he now works as a mortgage banker for GMAC Mortgage.

McKillop, 40, was credited with leading a team of 15 investigators in bringing to justice the self-proclaimed ``Angel of Death,'' Efren Saldivar, a former respiratory therapist who worked at Glendale Adventist Hospital.

Saldivar was sentenced in April to six consecutive life terms without parole for killing six elderly patients with drug injections from 1989 through 1997. The entire investigation took four years, including bringing Saldivar to trial.

In solving the case, McKillop said, detectives were led into uncharted territory when it came to gathering evidence.

``There is no way to explain what we went through,'' he said. ``We had to take a medical angle, and that was completely new.''

Investigators sifted through 100,000 patient records. They interviewed hundreds of hospital staff members. The learned how to read medical charts, McKillop said.

Of the 171 suspicious deaths they identified, 20 bodies were exhumed and examined for traces of two chemicals - Succinylcholine chloride and Pavulon - injected by Saldivar.

The drug Pavulon, which is difficult to detect because it breaks down quickly in the body, was found in six bodies.

Glendale police spokesman Kirk Palmer said McKillop, who worked in the robbery and homicide division, was especially suited to lead the team. McKillop was nominated for the award by now-retired Glendale Police Capt. Gerald Stolze.

``He's an experienced investigator,'' Palmer said. ``This case was unique in that they had to develop scientific protocol to determine which drugs Saldivar used.''

McKillop, who retired from the department in March, said he was left burned out by the case and has since begun work in mortgage banking - an unlikely second career, he admits, but his bosses said he has fit right in.

``John came to GMAC Mortgage with no experience in the mortgage industry and has become a great success story,'' said Michael Ross, district manager of the company. ``We are all proud of his accomplishments.''

But the case has not left him.

He's been featured in several national magazines, and a film version of the case is in the works.

He is also working to help pass legislation that would require pharmaceutical companies to place a tracer or substance in drugs that could assist police in similar, future cases.