A Wyoming microbiology graduate student from China is accused of poisoning a colleague's tea with a neurotoxic chemical, then attempting to flee the country. Aili Wang, 32, was arrested Oct. 6 at Los Angeles International Airport after police questioned her, according to court documents and prosecutors.
The alleged victim, identified as K.T., developed extreme tiredness, insomnia, tingling and numbness, and a strange taste in tea brewed in a shared office coffee maker. His wife and others boiled down water from the coffee maker and isolated 63 mg of white powder that tested positive for acrylamide, a chemical used in lab research that can be acutely toxic in high doses. Surveillance cameras later recorded Wang going through the victim's desk, photographing notebooks, and rinsing his mug with liquid from her own mug.
University of Wyoming professor Mark Gomelsky said Wang failed her first dissertation attempt and was envious of the victim's success in RNA delivery research. The victim's federally funded, patent-pending work involved new technology for cancer, neurological, and genetic disease treatment. Wang had not done lab work since June and allegedly bought acrylamide on eBay twice last summer, then asked eBay to delete her account. She faces felony aggravated assault and battery, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine; bond was raised to $1.5 million cash-only.