A woman who allegedly spiked the food and drinks of an Australian man with rat poison, leaving him in intensive care, has been charged with attempted murder, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
The woman, identified by her surname Yang (楊), is accused of repeatedly poisoning Alex Shorey over the course of several months last year to prevent the Australian man from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said in a statement.
Shorey was evacuated back to Australia on May 3 last year after being admitted to intensive care in Taiwan.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
According to prosecutors, Yang put bromadiolone, a rodenticide that prevents blood from clotting, in a drink she gave to Shorey at her home on March 24 last year, after Shorey told Yang he planned to return to Australia in mid-April.
After ingesting the poison, Shorey was admitted to Taipei Medical University Hospital on March 25 with symptoms including stomachache, diarrhea, nosebleeds and blood in urine, prosecutors said.
Doctors at the hospital only determined that Shorey’s symptoms were caused by the toxin superwarfarin on April 10, they said.
Shorey’s father arrived in Taiwan on April 9 to look after his son and planned to take him back to Australia on April 16, prosecutors said.
Despite knowing that Shorey had not recovered from the bromadiolone poisoning, Yang continued to spike his food with bromadiolone as well as the blood pressure medication amlodipine, leading to Shorey being hospitalized again on April 17, they said, adding that Yang deceived Shorey’s father into signing a form denying permission to place Shorey in intensive care, against doctors’ advice.
While Shorey was hospitalized, Yang poisoned him on an unknown number of occasions between April 30 and May 2 after confronting him about a photograph of him, his employer — a woman who runs an online business providing English lessons — and his employer’s daughter on his phone, prosecutors said.
Shorey’s mother found an empty bottle of the rodenticide at Yang’s residence on May 1 when packing her son’s things, they added.
A search of Yang’s home on May 3 and 5 uncovered three mugs with traces of the rodenticide, prosecutors said.
Yang has been charged with attempted murder because she continued to poison Shorey despite knowing her actions could kill him, prosecutors added.
Meanwhile, Yang could face further charges related to the death in January last year of her British husband.
According to police, Yang’s husband showed symptoms similar to Shorey’s before his death, leading them to notify prosecutors.
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