ROCK COUNTY, Wis. (WTVO) — Police in Rock County responded to a Janesville hospital after a woman had been poisoned with cyanide, leading to the arrest of a man and woman authorities said conspired to kill his former girlfriends.
According to the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, on May 12th, deputies were called to St. Mary’s Hospital in Janesville to investigate a possible poisoning.
According to WMTV, the victim saw a powdery substance in her car prior to drinking from a water bottle. She later fell ill and was hospitalized.
Rock County authorities’ investigation overlapped with simultaneous investigations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Middleton Police Department, and Madison Police Department, for similar crimes.
In two prior incidents, another woman in Middleton reported returning to her car after shopping at Costco and finding that a water bottle she had left within had been tampered with.
Authorities identified Paul VanDuyne, Jr., and Andrea Whitaker as the suspects in the crimes.
Law enforcement believes the pair conspired to gather or create elaborate poisons to use in an attempt to murder two women VanDuyne had previously dated.
Dane County Deputy District Attorney William Brown said, “It does appear that this defendant and Mr. Van Duyne have started dating and apparently created this plot to kill his ex-girlfriends by poisoning them with cyanide valium poisons.”
Brown said Whitaker stated she had a background in pharmacology. Prosecutors believe that she procured the poisons while VanDuyne broke into the victim’s cars and put cyanide in their water bottles and cyanide powder in the vehicle’s air vents.
Federal agents, including the Wisconsin National Guard, conducted several hazmat investigations this week. Brown said that 7 Wisconsin Department of Justice DCI agents had been hospitalized because of exposure to the substance.
VanDuyne, Jr. and Whitaker are charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and stalking resulting in bodily harm.
The pair is being held at the Dane County Jail.
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