A Missouri man became suspicious that his teacher wife was trying to poison him, so he allegedly set up a hidden camera. The surveillance camera reportedly caught the woman poisoning his smoothie with a potentially deadly plant.
Sarah Scheffer, of Jefferson City, was arrested on Wednesday. She was charged with first-degree domestic assault, first-degree attempted murder, and armed criminal action.
Over the course of six weeks, Scheffer’s husband said he experienced multiple occasions of peculiar and debilitating symptoms.
“The victim described eight occurrences in which the defendant provided a beverage or food that had an odd taste and shortly after ingesting he experienced extreme fatigue, confusion, blurred vision, severe cotton mouth, and nausea,” the probable cause statement stated.
On Jan. 1, the husband confronted his wife after she reportedly served him a beverage with a “bitter taste.”
Scheffer allegedly told her husband that she had urinated in his beverage. She then “admitted to putting an industrial strength adhesive in it,” according to the probable cause statement. Scheffer allegedly changed her story once again and denied that she added any substances to his drink.
Following the alleged incident, the husband installed a surveillance camera in the couple’s kitchen.
The husband claimed to have found a green bowl containing a root from a bag labeled “lily of the field” on Scheffer’s desk.
The hidden camera purportedly caught Scheffer preparing a smoothie for her husband. Scheffer added the contents from a green bowl into the smoothie, according to the statement.
The husband presented the video to the police. Scheffer confessed to putting lily of the valley in the smoothie when confronted by law enforcement, according to the probable cause statement.
“[Scheffer] admitted to adding a root of the ‘lily of the valley’ into the blender while preparing a smoothie drink of the victim,” the probable cause statement read. “[Scheffer] admitted doing this with the intent to cause the victim harm… admitted to knowing that ingesting ‘lily of the valley’ could result in death… [and] admitted knowing the act was illegal.”
WebMD warns of the dangers of lily of the valley: “The lily of the valley plants are extremely toxic. All parts of the plant can cause illness when eaten. It is categorized as having major toxicity. The lily of the valley contains several compounds that can affect the heart. It may be used in very small quantities in medication, but ingesting the plant can lead to severe illness, cardiac distress, and even death.”
The smoothie was allegedly placed in the refrigerator.
Officers with the Jefferson City Police Department seized the blender and sent the contents of the blender to a state laboratory for testing.
Scheffer is being held without bail at the Cole County Jail.
According to ABC News, “Police said they believed she would be at risk for failing to appear in court in response to a criminal summons because she allegedly said she has a relationship with someone who lives in Pakistan and ‘has conducted Google searches for flights to Pakistan,’ the probable cause statement said.”
KMIZ reported that Scheffer is a 37-year-old part-time design and art teacher at Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Scheffer has reportedly been placed on leave by the school following the accusations. She is no longer on the school’s online faculty page.
“The alleged conduct was outside of the employee’s association with the school and did not involve a student or any other school personnel,” Calvary Lutheran executive director John Christman said in a statement. “As a Christian community, Calvary Lutheran High School believes in protecting the well-being of all individuals who are part of our programs and we seek to respond in a caring and sensitive manner to everyone in our school community. With this in mind, consistent action has been taken in response to the notification.”
Teacher in Jefferson City charged with attempted murder for husband’s alleged poisoningwww.youtube.com
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