Texas VA Nurse Charged After Vietnam Vet Found Dead with Cable Around Neck; Family Demands Answers

The family of James Duplechain, a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran, is reeling after learning that negligence may have played a role in his tragic death at a Houston VA hospital last July. Duplechain was found dead with a phone charging cable wrapped around his neck, and prosecutors now allege that former nurse Christiana Ogbonnaya lied about checking on him during the night. Though records claimed she made multiple visits between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., surveillance and timeline data revealed her last real check-in was at 8:45 p.m.—nearly eight hours before he was found. Ogbonnaya is now facing criminal charges for falsifying medical records, and the VA confirms she has been terminated. Duplechain’s family is demanding accountability, calling the circumstances surrounding his death “abhorrent” and deeply heartbreaking.