Terri Eden Maples Rachals was born in 1961 in Georgia, USA. She pursued a career in nursing and secured a position in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia. Colleagues described her as a dedicated and competent nurse. However, beneath her professional demeanor, Rachals reportedly struggled with personal challenges, including episodes of depression and emotional distress. These internal battles remained largely unnoticed by those around her until they surfaced during the investigation into the suspicious deaths at the hospital.​

Between October and November 1985, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital experienced an unusual spike in patient cardiac arrests, raising concerns among the medical staff. An internal review identified six suspicious deaths, all involving patients who had been in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit during Rachals' shifts. The deceased patients were:​

Milton Lucas, 68, died on October 19, 1985. Minnie Houck, 58, died on November 7, 1985.​ Joe Irwin, 36, died on November 10, 1985. Roger Parker, 36, died on November 15, 1985.​ Andrew Daniels, 73, died on November 24, 1985. Norris Morgan, 3, died on November 27, 1985. 

Investigations revealed that these patients had been administered potassium chloride, a drug that, in high doses, can induce cardiac arrest. Suspicion fell on Rachals due to her consistent presence during these incidents. She was arrested on March 13, 1986, and during interrogation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Rachals reportedly confessed to injecting five patients with lethal doses of potassium chloride. However, she later recanted this confession, claiming she had no memory of the events and suggesting she might have been in a dissociative "fugue state" during the incidents.​

In March 1986, Rachals was indicted on six counts of murder and 20 counts of aggravated assault related to nine patients. Her trial commenced in September 1986. The prosecution argued that Rachals sought a sense of control and power, leading her to commit the alleged acts. The defense presented psychiatric evaluations indicating that Rachals suffered from chronic depression and dissociative disorders, which could have impaired her awareness and judgment.

On September 26, 1986, the jury found Rachals guilty but mentally ill on one count of aggravated assault for injecting an 89-year-old patient with a potentially fatal dose of potassium chloride. She was acquitted of the remaining charges. On October 1, 1986, Rachals was sentenced to 17 years in prison, followed by three years of probation. She served her full sentence and was released on April 1, 2003.