Thomas Shaknovsky Indicted in William Bryan Death After Wrong Organ Removed During Surgery

Back on August 21, 2024, 70 year old William Bryan went into Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital for what was supposed to be a routine splendectomy. Instead, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky removed his liver. William died on the operating table from what his family’s attorney later described as immediate and catastrophic blood loss. Now if you haven’t heard the full breakdown of how that happened, including the prior surgical error and everything leading up to that day, go back and listen to the original episode first. And the link for that is in the show notes below. Now, since the original case, there has been a major update and it changes the direction of everything. Welcome lambs. Welcome to love and heartbreak, to homicide. Your update episode. It is currently 2:39am So M this is going to be a relatively raw episode, minimal editing. I saw that this case had an update and I wanted to bring the update to you as soon as possible. So like I said, it’s 2 o’ clock in the morning going on 3 o’ clock in the morning and I’m very tired. But I wanted to bring this case to you. Now before we get into it, just a bit of housekeeping. If you don’t want to miss an episode and you want some bonuses, go ahead and join us over on the Patreon for free. Patreon.com/loveandmurder literally just sign up, join the free tier and you do get a little bit of bonuses. Plus you get reminders of every episode so you don’t miss a case. Patreon.com/loveandmurder now let’s get back into this update. After William’s death, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, along with the District 1 Medical Examiner’s Office and the Office of the State Attorney, began reviewing the case to determine whether anything criminal had taken place. Ah. At the time, officials made it clear that no charges had been filed yet and that it would be, quote, incorrect to say criminal charges had been filed. Behind the scenes, though, the investigation turned into something much more extensive. Authorities spent months reviewing what happened inside the operating room, looking at surgical decisions, medical records, and whether this crossed a line from negligence into criminal conduct. At the same time, the Bryan family moved forward with the civil side. Williams widow Beverly Bryant filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against both Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky and Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital. According to the filan, this wasn’t the first serious error tied to Szeknowski. In a previous case, he removed pancreatic tissue instead of an adrenal gland causing long term harm. It also references another incident where a patient’s bowel was perforated during a gallbladder surgery, which ultimately led to that patient’s death. The lawsuit also mentions a wrong site hernia surgery involved in Shaknovsky’s history. Wow. So, I mean, how did he get his medical license? Because he seems to be making a lot of errors. The lawsuit also made a bigger claim, arguing that by October 2023, the hospital knew, or at least should have known, that they had what the filing described as, quote, a, uh, consistent, negligent and dangerous surgeon on staff, but still allowed him to continue operating. The lawsuit said that they should have removed his surgical privileges entirely, and I agree. Instead, according to the file, in he was allowed to continue operating without restriction. The complaint even suggests that financial incentives may have played a role, alleging that the hospital allowed him to continue in part because he was generating revenue. There are also claims about the internal culture that specifically that nurses often feel uncomfortable reporting issues involving surgeons, and that the hospital should have had stronger safety protocols in place because of that dynamic. Another detail that came out during his time at the hospital. Shaknovsky was reportedly having so many complications within his first five months that complaints were being filed with the Florida Department of Health. The lawsuit also claimed that he would sometimes invoke religious language during conversations about those complications, which the plaintiffs argue was a way of redirecting attention away from what was actually happening. From the family’s perspective, this case isn’t just about one surgery. It’s about a pattern that they believe was ignored until it resulted in Williams death. The family is sequined, damages over $50,000, and that case is still ongoing. Now, while all of that was unfolding, the Florida Department of Health stepped in separately. In September 2024, they issued an emergency order suspending Shaknovsky’s medical license, including that he had made, quote, repeated egregious surgical errors resulting in significant patient harm. But even that didn’t fully stop him. Can you imagine that? According to attorney Joe Zarzar, despite having his licenses suspended in both Florida and Alabama, Shaknovsky continued practicing medicine for the US Military. Attorney uh, Zarzaur said the military system is not tied to any particular state. He has figured out a way to continue practicing medicine and not disclose what’s going on in his civilian life. That detail alone has raised a whole new set of concerns about oversight and accountability. The family’s attorney had already been preparing Williams widow for the possibility that nothing criminal would come out of this, especially if investigators couldn’t get medical experts to agree that what happened crossed the line. But now a, uh, grand jury has made that decision after what the sheriff’s office described as an extensive investigation. On April 15, 2026, a Florida grand jury formally indicted the now 44 year old Shaknovsky. The charge is negligent manslaughter in connection with William Bryan’s death. Investigators concluded that what happened in that operating room, quote, constituted criminal conduct under Florida law. He was arrested and taken into custody with his Bond set at $75,000, which, why does he have a bond if, I mean, he’s not going around murdering people, but he’s not stopping medicine either, you know what I’m saying? So, I mean, I guess if, you know, you don’t know what you’re doing in medicine, that would be considered murder, wouldn’t it? And along with that indictment, more details came out about what investigators believe actually happened during the surgery. And wait till you hear this. According to the findings, Shaknovsky arrived about an hour late to the procedure. During the operation, he made the decision to convert from a laparoscopic surgery to an open one due to visibility issues. At one point, investigators said he, quote, fired a stapling device blindly into Williams abdomen before removing an organ he believed was the spleen, but was actually the liver. The department of health said that operating room staff noted something was wrong during the procedure, but that they, uh, also observed Shaknovsky attempting to cover it up. The department stated that his account of what happened included, quote, deceptive and untrue statements, and that he instructed a staff member to label will Williams liver as spleen when it went to pathology. Even after the surgery, even after there was time to reassess what happened, he continued to maintain that he had removed the spleen. According to attorney Zarzaur, he repeated that claim, quote, over and over to numerous staff and other physicians, Even as people around him were questioning what he was saying. At the same time, medical records were documenting what actually happened to William and excessive blood loss, transfusions, and eventually cardiac arrest. And then the pathology report confirmed what the family had already suspected. The organ that had been removed and labeled as a spleen was in fact the liver. Attorney, uh, Zarzaur also addressed the idea that this could have been an accident. Like if somebody was saying maybe it was an accident. So he addressed that saying, quote, you can’t accidentally take out someone’s liver. It has more connection points than most any other organ in the body. You have to basically dissect it out carefully. So, literally, there’s no way to say, oops, I got his liver instead of his heart. Like, there is no freaking way. He argued that even if the removal was accidental, Shaknovsky certainly knew he had removed the liver and after the operation, but still reported it as a spleen. And even if you entertained the idea that there was confusion during the surgery, what happened afterwards would raise even more questions. Now, with the indictment in place, the case is moving into the next phase. Czachnowski is expected to face trial on a negligent manslaughter charge, where prosecutors will likely rely heavily on the surgical records, witness accounts from operating room staff, and the findings from both the Department of Health and the medical examiner. At the same time, the civil lawsuit filed by the Bryan family is still ongoing, like I said, meaning that currently there are two parallel paths occurring, one criminal and one civil, both centered on what happened to William Bryan. On August 21, 2024, Sheriff Michael Addison addressed the indictment, saying, the grand jury has spoken and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are, uh, carried out through the proper legal processes. Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family and their unspeakable loss. For Beverly, this is the first real movement towards accountability. Attorney Zarzaur said she beverly is relieved that charges were filed, not because of justice for William, but because it may finally prevent Shaknovsky from continuing to practice medicine anywhere. And as you know, as the case is still ongoing, everything said here is alleged because what, I ain’t trying to be sued. And for everyone else watching and looking out for this case, it raises the same question that’s been there from the beginning. How was this allowed to happen in the first place? How was this allowed to happen more than once? How could someone continue practicing after repeated egregious errors? And why did it take so long to reach this point? And that is the update of Thomas Shaknovsky. If you listen to the first episode, which the link to that is in the show notes below, you’ll hear why I am not calling him doctor. I didn’t call him doctor back in that episode, and I’m not calling him doctor in this one. And if somebody has a problem with it, I don’t have to tell you. Anyways, let me know your thoughts in the comments below. What do you think about this case? And go back and listen to the initial case, Because I actually had three cases in there, and I went back and listened to them this morning, and I was like, I was shocked all over again because I can’t believe people have the utter audacity Cajones balls. Gigantic balls to do some of the things they do. So link to that episode is in the show notes below. Give it a listen and also in the comments. Uh, let me know what you think about this case. It is going on 3 o’. Clock. Like I said, my eyes are closing and I’m going to go ahead and stop recording now. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for supporting Love and Murder and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.

Past Cases Mentioned in this Episode:

Florida Doctor Killed Patient by Removing Liver Instead of Spleen | The Case of Thomas Shaknovsky
https://murderandlove.com/florida-doctor-killed-patient-by-removing-liver-instead-of-spleen-the-case-of-thomas-shaknovsky/