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Chemical Crimes: Poisons, Poisoners & Poisonings

Naughty_Felid said:
You were bloody lucky to get Sodium hydroxide! Back when I was a lad we couldn't afford to poison towns with that and had to scoop flamming lava into the water with our bare hands, etc, etc...

Disclaimer: Dear CIA, FBI, MI6, and whoever else may be watching,

Neither I nor to my knowledge, Mr. Weary, have ever tried to poison a town with chemicals or molten lava in real life. We were just having a laugh.
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I did poison a few towns but was just having laugh.
 
charliebrown said:
Hacker almost kills the whole town of Oldsmar, Florida by hacking into the water system.
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It would have taken more than a day for the adulterated water to enter the public’s water system, we're told, during which time the plant would have caught the disparity. “The public was never in danger,” Sheriff Gualtieri said.

And "hacker" is rather over the top, sounds like some teenager who's stumbled across shodan.

Yawn. https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/09/florida_water_hacked/
 
A Washington state woman died in 2018 from some sort of overdose. At first this was suspected to have been caused by taking too much of her available painkilling drugs. Later analyses and investigations suggested her husband had killed her with poisoned ice cream. He's now been convicted and sentenced for her murder.
Cheney man sentenced to 25 years for killing wife with poisoned ice cream

A Cheney man will spend 25 years in prison for killing his wife with poisoned ice cream.

A jury convicted David Pettis in early December.

At his sentencing, his wife’s sisters urged the judge for a life sentence. ...

Given Pettis’ age, the judge during the sentencing said 25 years is the equivalent of life in prison. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.kxly.com/cheney-man-sentenced-to-25-years-for-killing-wife-with-poisoned-ice-cream/
 
This Indiana man confessed to poisoning the woman with whom he was living because she was critical of his heavy drinking habit.
Indiana man allegedly killed roommate with windshield fluid

A northwest Indiana man allegedly killed his roommate by repeatedly spiking her beverages with windshield washer fluid because he felt she was disrespecting him by not approving of his heavy drinking, authorities said.

Thomas Holifield, 59, is charged with murder in the June 1 methanol poisoning death of 64-year-old Pamela Keltz, according to Michigan City police and the LaPorte County coroner. ...

Keltz was being treated in the intensive care unit at a Michigan City hospital on May 30 when Holifield contacted police, saying he wanted to confess to poisoning her, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported, citing court records.

After learning that Keltz had been poisoned, doctors altered her treatment. But she was declared brain dead and her family removed her from life support on June 1, court records show.

Holifield told police that while he once had a romantic relationship with Keltz, he had been renting a room from her and she was his "best friend". But he told officers he was a heavy drinker and Keltz did not drink alcohol, and his habit had become "a point of contention between the two of them" ...

Holifield told officers he thought Keltz was disrespectful toward him and he devised a plan to poison her, initially by putting eye drops into a cup she drank soda from ...

"Thomas noted that the eye drops were not causing severe enough illness. Pamela would have hallucinations and diarrhea but then recover," the records state.

Holifield told police that in May he noticed a bottle of windshield washer fluid in Keltz's room, saw that it contained methanol and learned that the chemical was poisonous ...

He allegedly said he put some of that fluid in Keltz's 2-liter bottles of soda and she became sick and went to a hospital. After she returned home, he said he began putting larger quantities of windshield washer fluid in her soda bottles, with the goal of killing her ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.wlky.com/article/indiana-man-allegedly-killed-roommate-with-windshield-fluid/38795027#
 
An apparently spiked bottle shared among 9 Bavarian bar customers resulted in 1 death and 8 hospitalizations.
1 dead, 8 hospitalized after spiked drinks in Bavarian bar

One man died and eight others were hospitalized in serious condition after drinking spiked drinks at a bar in Bavaria ...

The man who died was 52 years old, and the others were between 33 and 52 ...

Police didn’t say what the group of people had been drinking because of the ongoing investigation, but said they had ordered and shared one bottle. Local media reported they had all been drinking from a bottle of Champagne.

The incident happened Saturday night in the Bavarian town of Weiden. When police arrived at the bar, they found people lying on the ground with cramps and eight of them had to be hospitalized. ...
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FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/business-europe-lifestyle-1aef3bdd618217960ea87afc701a20c7
 
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...sedgntp&cvid=036a6be33104447e8737c06e244ba8b1

Dermatologist arrested after her husband secretly recorded her allegedly poisoning him, documents show

A California dermatologist has been arrested after her husband secretly recorded her allegedly poisoning him by pouring Drano into his drinks, according to officials and a filing for a restraining order.

Dr. Yue Yu, 45, was arrested Thursday and booked into the Orange County Jail, the Irvine Police Department said in a news release. She was released Friday after posting $30,000 bond.

Her husband of 10 years, who was not identified by police, contacted Irvine authorities Thursday, saying he suspected Yu was poisoning him. An attorney for the husband identified him as Dr. Jack Chen, 53, a radiologist.

In a bid to catch his wife in the act, the husband "placed cameras in the home that surreptitiously recorded evidence in the case," and shared the footage with police, Lt. Bill Bingham told NBC News.

Police arrived at the couple's home with a search warrant the same day, interviewed Yu and subsequently arrested her.

Yu, who has not been formally charged in the case, “vehemently and unequivocally denies ever attempting to poison her husband or anyone else,” her attorney, David E. Wohl, said.
 
uair01 said:
Dr. Yue Yu, 45, was arrested Thursday and booked into the Orange County Jail, the Irvine Police Department said in a news release. She was released Friday after posting $30,000 bond. ...

Yu, who has not been formally charged in the case, “vehemently and unequivocally denies ever attempting to poison her husband or anyone else,” her attorney, David E. Wohl, said.
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$30,000 bail is pretty low in such a case, maybe the evidence isn't that strong.
 
I have to say that Mr. R definitely has a point -
He says that since Chernobyl in 1986, he has noticed that people and especially children have all types of afflictions, things not really noticed before.
I wonder if he's right, all that poison has gotten into our air, soil and water systems.
Just a thought.
 
A Japanese elementary school teacher was re-assigned to a different homeroom class. She didn't like the move, and attempted to poison or injure kids in her new class.
Teacher arrested for putting bleach in school lunch

Police in Fujimi, Saitama Prefecture, have arrested a 24-year-old elementary school teacher on suspicion of forcible disruption of business after she placed bleach in curry to be served to the children for lunch.

... Ayana Hanzawa has admitted to placing the bleach in a container of curry at around 11:30 a.m. on Sept 15 at Mizutani-Higashi Elementary School, Kyodo News reported. Several of the children noticed an odd smell coming from the curry and told another teacher.

Nobody ate the curry which was sent for analysis. The result showed it contained chlorine bleach.

Hanzawa, who has taught at the school since 2020, was quoted by police as saying she got upset because she was transferred to be the homeroom teacher for another class in April, despite wanting to remain with her previous class. The curry she laced was meant to be served for the children in her new class ...
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FULL STORY: https://japantoday.com/category/cri...r-arrested-for-putting-bleach-in-school-lunch
 
A Florida man was arrested for pouring bleach into the unattended canned drink of a co-worker with whom he'd had an argument.
Florida man accused of pouring bleach into co-workers drink for being 'difficult to work with'

A Florida Dollar General employee has been arrested for allegedly pouring bleach into his co-worker's drink after an argument.

Jerome Ellis, a DeLand Dollar General employee was arrested on charges of poisoning food or water and tampering with evidence after video surveillance showed Ellis pouring bleach into his co-worker's can of Pepsi on Monday, an arrest affidavit states. ...

Ellis and the victim reportedly got into an argument the day before, and the victim told police he believed Ellis was holding a grudge against him ...

The man told deputies he placed a Pepsi he was drinking on a counter before going to the restroom. When he came back and took a drink from the can, it tasted like bleach or cleaning supplies.

When deputies arrived at the store, video surveillance showed Ellis pouring bleach into the Pepsi can while the victim was in the bathroom. He also reportedly wiped the can off, walked away, and came back to spit in the drink, deputies said.

Ellis initially told deputies there was no argument between him and the victim and that he went behind the counter with "cleaning solution and spilled some in that general area," ...

Video footage also showed Ellis attempting to unplug the camera system. ...

Ellis was booked into the Volusia County Jail.
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FULL STORY: https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/f...orkers-drink-for-being-difficult-to-work-with
 
Looks like a drink was spiked with thallium, there might be a related case.

Prosecutors in Osaka have indicted a man for murdering a female acquaintance with thallium, which was used as rat poison.

Kazuki Miyamoto, 37, is accused of killing 21-year-old university student Hinako Hamano last October by lacing her drink with thallium. Thallium was also recently found in his female relative, who has been in a coma since 2020, local media reported citing sources.
Just 1g of it could kill an adult.

But police have not found a motive, nor how he had laid hands on the poison. The suspect was arrested on 3 March in Kyoto. Thallium is a soft metal which dissolves in water and has no taste or smell- making it hard to detect outside a laboratory setting.

Mr Miyamoto, a real estate agent, is believed to have administered thallium to Ms Hamano sometime around 11 and 12 October when he visited her flat in Kyoto. He had told police the two were dining out on the night of 11 October before heading to Ms Hamano's home for drinks, the Japan Times said, citing investigators. According to Mr Miyamoto, Ms Hamano experienced severe coughing fits. He then contacted her family, who took her to a hospital the next day.

Hamano died on 15 October of severe respiratory failure - thallium was found in her vomit and urine, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Police suspect that Mr Miyamoto had spiked Ms Hamano's drink when they were alone at her flat. While analysing Mr Miyamoto's smartphone, police found internet searches for thallium from before the time Ms Hamano was hospitalised.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65084566
 
ramonmercado said:
Looks like a drink was spiked with thallium, there might be a related case.

Prosecutors in Osaka have indicted a man for murdering a female acquaintance with thallium, which was used as rat poison.

Kazuki Miyamoto, 37, is accused of killing 21-year-old university student Hinako Hamano last October by lacing her drink with thallium. Thallium was also recently found in his female relative, who has been in a coma since 2020, local media reported citing sources.
Just 1g of it could kill an adult.

But police have not found a motive, nor how he had laid hands on the poison. The suspect was arrested on 3 March in Kyoto. Thallium is a soft metal which dissolves in water and has no taste or smell- making it hard to detect outside a laboratory setting.

Mr Miyamoto, a real estate agent, is believed to have administered thallium to Ms Hamano sometime around 11 and 12 October when he visited her flat in Kyoto. He had told police the two were dining out on the night of 11 October before heading to Ms Hamano's home for drinks, the Japan Times said, citing investigators. According to Mr Miyamoto, Ms Hamano experienced severe coughing fits. He then contacted her family, who took her to a hospital the next day.

Hamano died on 15 October of severe respiratory failure - thallium was found in her vomit and urine, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Police suspect that Mr Miyamoto had spiked Ms Hamano's drink when they were alone at her flat. While analysing Mr Miyamoto's smartphone, police found internet searches for thallium from before the time Ms Hamano was hospitalised.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65084566
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Thallium: The “Graham Young” poison.

maximus otter
 
ramonmercado said:
Looks like a drink was spiked with thallium, there might be a related case.

Prosecutors in Osaka have indicted a man for murdering a female acquaintance with thallium, which was used as rat poison.

Kazuki Miyamoto, 37, is accused of killing 21-year-old university student Hinako Hamano last October by lacing her drink with thallium. Thallium was also recently found in his female relative, who has been in a coma since 2020, local media reported citing sources.
Just 1g of it could kill an adult.

But police have not found a motive, nor how he had laid hands on the poison. The suspect was arrested on 3 March in Kyoto. Thallium is a soft metal which dissolves in water and has no taste or smell- making it hard to detect outside a laboratory setting.

Mr Miyamoto, a real estate agent, is believed to have administered thallium to Ms Hamano sometime around 11 and 12 October when he visited her flat in Kyoto. He had told police the two were dining out on the night of 11 October before heading to Ms Hamano's home for drinks, the Japan Times said, citing investigators. According to Mr Miyamoto, Ms Hamano experienced severe coughing fits. He then contacted her family, who took her to a hospital the next day.

Hamano died on 15 October of severe respiratory failure - thallium was found in her vomit and urine, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Police suspect that Mr Miyamoto had spiked Ms Hamano's drink when they were alone at her flat. While analysing Mr Miyamoto's smartphone, police found internet searches for thallium from before the time Ms Hamano was hospitalised.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65084566
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Is the implication here that Miyamoto used thallium from rat poison to poison people?

The famous British poisoner Graham Young used thallium, alternated with antimony. We have threads which mention him.

(Young rarely killed his victims outright; he preferred to administer tiny doses which temporarily incapacitated them with unpleasant symptoms.
He was considered so dangerous, nobody wanted to defend him in case they too were taken suddenly ill.

Later, in prison, he'd be missed off the invitation list for chapel teas as nobody wanted him near their refreshments.)
 
South Africa's Zulu king, head of the country's most influential traditional monarchy, has undergone "thorough" medical examinations following the sudden death of a close adviser, a spokesman said Sunday, amid suspicions he was poisoned.

The king, who was visiting neighbouring Eswatini, "underwent precautionary and thorough medical exams in a context of Covid and after the sudden death of his close adviser," Douglas Xaba, explained Prince Africa Zulu, contacted by telephone by AFP.

Misuzulu Zulu, 48, ascended the throne last year after the death of his father, Goodwill Zwelithini, amid a bitter feud over the royal succession.

Overnight on Saturday, the influential Zulu prime minister, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said in a press release that the monarch had been hospitalised in Eswatini after falling ill.

The king believes he was being poisoned, after the sudden and unexpected death of one of his close advisers on Saturday, he said.

Xaba "passed on quite suddenly and that there are suspicions that he was poisoned", added Buthelezi.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...g-advisers-sudden-death-spokesman/ar-AA1dk97i
 
uair01 said:
South Africa's Zulu king, head of the country's most influential traditional monarchy, has undergone "thorough" medical examinations following the sudden death of a close adviser, a spokesman said Sunday, amid suspicions he was poisoned.

The king, who was visiting neighbouring Eswatini, "underwent precautionary and thorough medical exams in a context of Covid and after the sudden death of his close adviser," Douglas Xaba, explained Prince Africa Zulu, contacted by telephone by AFP.

Misuzulu Zulu, 48, ascended the throne last year after the death of his father, Goodwill Zwelithini, amid a bitter feud over the royal succession.

Overnight on Saturday, the influential Zulu prime minister, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said in a press release that the monarch had been hospitalised in Eswatini after falling ill.

The king believes he was being poisoned, after the sudden and unexpected death of one of his close advisers on Saturday, he said.

Xaba "passed on quite suddenly and that there are suspicions that he was poisoned", added Buthelezi.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...g-advisers-sudden-death-spokesman/ar-AA1dk97i
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He says he's well.

South Africa's Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has moved to reassure his people and dismissed stories that he had been poisoned.

"I am not poisoned, I am well," he said on a video released on Monday evening.

At the weekend, the king's traditional prime minister said he had gone to neighbouring Eswatini for treatment. Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi added that it followed the sudden death of one of the king's senior advisers, also of suspected poisoning.

But in response, the king's spokesperson, Prince Africa Zulu alleged there was "an orchestrated agenda and a desperate narrative to communicate defamatory and baseless claims of His Majesty's ill-health".

The dispute is a sign of how the relationship between King Misuzulu and Chief Buthelezi has fallen apart, reports the BBC's Nomsa Maseko in Johannesburg.

In the video released on Monday, the king, looking well, explained that he had travelled to Eswatini for a regular medical health check.

"I'm happy, everything is well-functioning, there is no poison whatsoever. So please people, mostly to the Zulu people, the Zulu royal family also to remind everyone to please don't listen to everything that people say," he said.

King Misuzulu was crowned in front of thousands of his subjects last October. But a vicious power struggle has been raging within the royal family over the 48-year-old's accession, while tensions have also recently surfaced between the monarch and Chief Buthelezi.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66095351
 
A strange case, unlikely to be ever solved.

A Chinese woman who was the victim of an unsolved poisoning case in 1994 has died, aged 50.

Zhu Ling was a chemistry student at Beijing's Tsinghua University when she was poisoned with the highly toxic chemical thallium. It left her paralysed, almost blind and with brain damage, and she required 24-hour care from her parents.

No-one has been charged in the case. Her classmate and roommate, Sun Wei, was investigated but not charged. Ms Sun was investigated by police in 1997 but was cleared as a suspect due to a lack of evidence. She has repeatedly taken to social media to declare her innocence, and also changed her name.

In late 1994, Zhu Ling began experiencing stomach pains and hair loss and she fell into a coma months later. Doctors later diagnosed her with thallium poisoning, a soft metal which dissolves in water and is odourless and tasteless. Reports have claimed Ms Sun had access to the thallium compound but she has said she was not the only student with access to the toxic substance.

Zhu Ling's family and supporters have suggested a possible motive was that Ms Sun was envious of her beauty and her musical and academic achievements. Ms Sun has denied personal animosity between herself and Ms Zhu.

A 2013 petition demanded the US investigate Ms Sun and have her deported from the United States, where she was living. The petition described Ms Sun's family as having powerful political connections, and it was alleged she "had the motive, and access to the deadly chemical".

The White House responded to the petition and said it declined to comment on the request, but said Zhu Ling's poisoning "was a tragedy".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67813199
 
From Twitter by @ruima

Crazy story of the week:

The tragic incident surrounding the Netflix adaptation of the "Three Body Problem" series is not widely known among its fans. Lin Qi, a visionary and brilliant young billionaire, acquired the rights to the "Three Body Problem" with the ambition of creating various products from it. He enlisted the expertise of Xu Yao, a distinguished lawyer, appointing him CEO to spearhead the business operations, including securing a deal with Netflix—a feat for which Lin compensated Xu with a salary of nearly $3 million. However, Xu's performance did not meet expectations beyond the Netflix agreement, leading Lin to reduce his salary to $750,000 and bring in additional executives to enhance business operations. Xu, retaining his CEO title, was reportedly infuriated by this demotion and further aggravated by not being credited as a producer on the Netflix project.

Driven by revenge and inspired by the TV show "Breaking Bad," Xu meticulously planned Lin's murder. He purchased 160 phones and established a company in Japan to acquire the necessary chemicals for his scheme, testing them on animals. Xu then poisoned Lin and his colleagues, disguising the lethal substances as an advanced probiotic. Lin unsuspectingly consumed it and soon after was hospitalized, where it was immediately apparent he had been poisoned, though the specific toxins were unknown. The police quickly suspected Xu, who, had he disclosed the nature of the poisons (later found to have included exotic substances such as pufferfish poison and mercury and at least three other poisons), could have saved Lin's life. However, he chose not to, ensuring Lin's demise. Just a few days ago, as the show was premiering globally, Xu was finally sentenced to death for the murder of Lin and attempted murder of two other colleagues, who survived but with lifelong injuries.

Lin Qi, credited as an executive producer on the Netflix project posthumously, passed away at the age of 39. RIP ️
 
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