Man, Girlfriend Allegedly Tried to Poison His Exes with Cyanide: Police

A Wisconsin couple is under arrest in connection with the alleged poisoning of women who briefly dated the man, authorities say. 

Paul Van Duyne Jr., 43, and his partner Andrea Whitaker, 41, are accused of trying to poison at least two women, one of them three times, per authorities, WMTV 15, WKOW and NBC News reported.

Dane County authorities allege that Van Duyne and Whitaker hatched the plot to kill the women soon after the couple began dating, WMTV 15 and NBC News reported. 

One of the alleged victims claimed that about a month ago, she was told by witnesses outside a Costco that her car had been broken into, Dane County Deputy District Attorney William Brown said, per WMTV 15. 

She also took a sip of water which was inside her car and it tasted strange, prompting her to spit it out, WMTV 15, NBC and WKOW reported, citing Brown and a criminal complaint.

The woman was reportedly in a similar situation a few weeks later and called 911 when her water smelled weird, Brown said. The water bottle had cyanide inside, authorities determined, per the District Attorney’s statement WMTV 15 cited.

In nearby Rock County, another woman suffered on three occasions what authorities have determined to be alleged poisonings, per WKOW.

In April, her gym water bottle was allegedly contaminated with cyanide and thallium after her car was broken into, prosecutors said, according to WKOW.

A few days later, her car was broken into again and had such a bad odor the victim and her sister took another vehicle to go to the movies, the complaint stated. The sister, who is a minor, later got sick, per the outlet.

A few days later, the woman’s stepfather found a toxic plant protein in her vehicle’s vent, the complaint stated, per WKOW.

Van Duyne, a Princeton graduate as confirmed by the institution to NBC News, was a mechanical engineer who began dating after a recent divorce, according to his lawyer.

Whitaker is a pharmacology student, per the outlets.

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They have been charged with three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, aggravated battery, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and stalking resulting in bodily harm, WKOW reported, citing a criminal complaint.  

They have not entered pleas.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.