COLUMBUS, Ohio — After three and a half years, the murder trial for William Husel, a former Mount Carmel doctor, started Tuesday.

Both the prosecution and defense began the trial by addressing the jury directly with their opening statements at the Franklin County Courthouse.

Prosecutor for Franklin County Janet Grubb addressed the jurors first. 

“Ultimately, our case is about the fact that William Husel caused the death of our 14 victims,” said Grubb.

Husel is accused of killing 14 patients by ordering lethal doses of the opioid, fentanyl.

Jose Baez, Husel’s lawyer who also provided counsel in high-profile murder cases involving Casey Anthony and Anthony Hernandez, argued the defendant provided “comfort care” to dying patients.

“His patients had just moments left of their lives, he assisted them in living well,” Baez said in his opening statement, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes in comparison to Grubb’s 30-minute statement.

Instead of putting the blame on Husel, Baez argued there were systemic issues at Mount Carmel, like a lack of a “maximum dosage protocol.” He also said the pharmacists Husel worked with were 50% responsible for the dosages that were administered. 

During the prosecution’s opening statement, Grubb said her team will focus on the science of maintaining critical care and the proper doses of fentanyl.

The prosecution called their first witness to testify, Columbus Division of Police Detective William Gillette. 

“We had a meeting on Dec. 7 and talked to Mr. Hacket and Dr. Swanner,” said Gillette. “And they explained to us that they had two incidents where Dr. Husel ordered, one was 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl and the other was 2,000 micrograms of fentanyl, and they wanted us to look into this to see if there was something criminal about this.”

Baez then had his chance to question Gillette.

He asked him about his work on the case as a detective, asking if he knew pharmacists were 50% involved in administering doses, as well as if he received any of the notes from Mount Carmel’s own investigation. 

“You kept referring to the patients as victims,” said Baez. “Of course, we haven’t had a trial yet, so that’s really for the jury to decide whether they are patients or victims.” 

Judge Michael Holbrook paused Baez during his cross examination of Gillette, saying the trial will reconvene Wednesday 9 a.m.

Officials said the trial could continue for as long as two months, with arguments being made as many as four days per week.​