A Wisconsin couple has been arrested after prosecutors say they plotted cyanide poisonings against two of the man’s ex-girlfriends.
Prosecutors say Andrea Whitaker plotted with her boyfriend, Paul Van Duyne, to kill several women he had previously gone on dates with, local outlet WMTV reports. Whitaker and Van Duyne are now in custody at the Dane County Jail.
Dane County Deputy District Attorney William Brown said in court that police have been investigating the poisonings for over a month, according to WMTV. Brown argued Whitaker and Van Duyne have targeted at least two women. Both women had been on dates with Van Duyne, he added.
Brown said a woman in Middleton, Wisconsin, was leaving Costco last month when she discovered people surrounding her car, saying it had been broken into. When she got in the car and took a sip from a water bottle inside, she said it had a weird taste and spit it out, Brown claims.
A few weeks later, that woman left the same Costco and once again found people around her car telling her it had been broken into. When she took a sip from her water bottle this time, it also tasted off, Brown said.
The woman called 911, and investigators sent the water bottle off for testing. Brown said they discovered there was “cyanide placed in that water bottle.”
In nearby Rock County, Wisconsin, another woman was hospitalized for cyanide poisoning after noticing a powdery substance inside her car and drinking from her water bottle, Brown said.
Whitaker, who has a background in pharmacology, helped Van Duyne by making several searches online about cyanide around the time of the attempted poisonings, Brown claims.
Brown accused Van Duyne of being the one to put the cyanide in the cars, but said Whitaker was the “brains of the operation.”
The alleged poisonings have sparked several hazmat investigations across Madison, and Brown said several Department of Justice agents have been hospitalized because of cyanide exposure.
Whitaker faces two counts of first-degree attempted homicide and harboring and aiding a felon. Van Duyne also faces two counts of first-degree attempted homicide and a stalking charge. Whitaker’s bond was set at $4 million, while Van Duyne’s was set at $10 million, according to public records.
The Independent has contacted Whitaker and Van Duyne’s attorneys for comment.
