Criminal trial: Women in court for series of poison attacks

Two friends and a joint murder plot with beans and bacon: two women from North Rhine-Westphalia and… Bavaria from Wednesday onwards before the regional court in Wuppertal.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, the 59-year-old main defendant from Velbert near Wuppertal and a 60-year-old co-defendant from Bavaria Fürth tried several times to kill the 59-year-old’s husband with poison.

According to the prosecution, the woman decided to kill her husband after he announced his divorce and started a relationship with a new partner. She feared that she would suffer financial disadvantages as a result of the divorce.

Her co-defendant friend from Bavaria is said to have supported the plan and helped procure poisonous plants as well as provide advice Whatsapp have helped.

Blue monkshood in your favorite dish

According to the prosecution, the main defendant interfered with her husband Velbert repeatedly ground plant seeds and later components of the highly poisonous monkshood in beer and food. According to the investigation, several poison attacks had no effect.

But at the beginning of November 2025, the man was taken to hospital with severe symptoms of poisoning after eating his favorite dish, white beans with bacon. He had to be put into an artificial coma and his life was in danger. Doctors were able to stabilize him and the then 56-year-old barely survived.

Stomach contents in the laboratory

Then specialists were able to detect traces of the highly poisonous monkshood in the leftover food in the stomach contents. Because of the substance aconite, the blue monkshood is one of the most poisonous plants in Europe. The investigation revealed that the woman had even threatened to poison her husband.

In Düsseldorf, a murder squad took charge of the matter. Searches and evaluations of the 59-year-old’s cell phone confirmed the suspicion: she is said to have prepared the food with poison.

Arrest warrants were issued against both women – German citizens. The woman from Velbert has been in custody on suspicion of murder since the end of November. It was said at the time that she remained silent about the allegations after she had previously been involved in contradictions.

The district court in Fürth, Bavaria, issued an arrest warrant against her alleged accomplice for aiding and abetting murder. The prosecution is now even assuming a joint murder attempt.

Suspected motive for murder

The investigators assume that the motive was not just anger over the announced divorce: the woman from Velbert feared that her husband would no longer be able to cover her living expenses after the divorce. She therefore wanted to cover this with the widow’s pension and her husband’s assets.

When she was informed of the plan, the friend from Bavaria agreed and assured her support. First, the 59-year-old added unknown plant seeds to several bottles of beer. Sleeping pills and cannabis oil were also mixed into the husband’s beer.

The co-defendant from Fürth gave tips on how to remove traces via WhatsApp. The woman from Velbert is said to have added ground seeds to a soup – again without effect. But the women didn’t give up: First they ordered four bags of monkshood seeds online – and finally the plant itself. They are considered innocent until the proceedings are legally concluded.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:260705-930-335533/1