Police: Retiree made ricin, tested it on neighbors
Source: Associated Press
Lisa Rathke, Associated Press
Updated 12:49 pm, Friday, December 1, 2017
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) A retirement community resident made ricin and tested the deadly toxin on her neighbors by putting it on their food or in beverages over a period of weeks, investigators said.
Betty Miller told an FBI agent that she wanted to "injure herself" and was testing the poison's effectiveness on other residents at the Wake Robin senior living facility, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on Thursday.
Police were called to the senior community in Shelburne on Tuesday after Miller told heath care providers she had manufactured the ricin and placed it on other residents' food and beverages, the agent said in the complaint. No residents reported symptoms of ricin poisoning, he said.
Miller said she harvested 30 to 40 castor beans from plants growing on Wake Robin's property and made 2 to 3 tablespoons of ricin twice in her kitchen, the complaint said. She exposed other residents to the ricin on at least three occasions, the complaint said.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Police-Retiree-made-ricin-tested-it-on-neighbors-12398145.php
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)But maybe she should have tried macrame first?
democrank
(11,112 posts)Bradshaw3
(7,536 posts)And while I would never poison my neighbors I certainly understand the impulse.
marble falls
(57,396 posts)From children of the corn to crones of the castor.
EX500rider
(10,882 posts)"Ricin is easily denatured by temperatures over 80 °C (175 °F) meaning many methods of deploying ricin would generate enough heat to denature it."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricin
CanonRay
(14,123 posts)sl8
(13,949 posts)Last edited Sat Dec 2, 2017, 02:13 AM - Edit history (2)
Yes, I think I see her logic here.
Sure, everybody says that ricin is a deadly poison, but what if it turns out that it actually makes elderly people feel much younger, full of vim and vigor, à la Cocoon? If that turned out to be the case, she certainly wouldn't want to take it herself, because she wants to injure herself, not feel better, God forbid.
kimbutgar
(21,229 posts)Luciferous
(6,086 posts)defacto7
(13,485 posts)dembotoz
(16,864 posts)Her mystery meat really was mysterious
Sancho
(9,070 posts)Turn Florida Blue!