Filipina Narciso

Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez were Filipina nurses tried for the murder of 10 patients in an Ann Arbor, Michigan, VA hospital during the 1970s.

In 1975, 35 patients at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, suffered respiratory failure, 10 of whom died. The FBI launched an investigation into the matter due to its suspicious jump from monthly averages at the hospital, and eventually accused two Filipina nurses recently immigrated to the U.S., Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez, of responsibility for the murders in June 1976. [Galang, M. 2003. Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images. Coffee House Press] The case against Narciso and Perez was, by admission of the assistant U.S. Attorney General, Richard Delonis, “highly circumstantial,” yet resulted in a guilty conviction. [Galang, M. 2003. Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images. Coffee House Press] The FBI’s devotion to “cracking” the case was considerable, in total using an estimated 200 agents and devoting over $1 million in resources to the case. [Galang, M. 2003. Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images. Coffee House Press]

In a trial marred by racist accusations, a man slated to be the lead witness for the prosecution (though dropped by the Federal prosecutor just prior to trial), referred to Perez and Narciso as “slant-eyed bitches” in on a “nationwide conspiracy of 1800 Filipino nurses out to murder Americans.” [Choy, Catherine. 2003. Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino-American History. Duke University Press.] Racial tensions at the time were also running high due high rates of immigration to the U.S. by Asian immigrants. [Ngai, Mae. 2005. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton University Press] Despite the lack of any concrete evidence linking the two nurses to the crime, they were found guilty on three counts of poisoning in July 1977. [Time Magazine. 1977. “Long Count to A Guilty Verdict” July 25.] In February of the following year, however, the case was overturned on an appeal by the defense, due to several instances of misconduct by the prosecution during several stages of the trial. [Pratt, Phillip. 1978. "US. v. Narciso and Perez", Memorandum Opinion and Order Regarding Defendants’ Motion for a New Trial p. 17. ] Despite their vindication in the eyes of the law, however, Narciso and Perez had suffered terribly and unnecessarily as a result of their lengthy trial process. The struggles of Narciso and Perez became a focal point for many protest groups and Filipino(a)s, who united in their condemnation of the handling of the case and support for the two nurses. [Choy, Catherine. 2003. Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino-American History. Duke University Press.]

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* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919117,00.html Time Magazine Article]