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Girl suspected of poisoning mother
11/01/2005
The Asahi Shimbun
MISHIMA, Shizuoka Prefecture--A 16-year-old high school girl was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempting to kill her mother by regularly mixing rat poison into her food.
The mother remains in a coma, police said.
Police suspect the girl, a first-year senior high school student in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, started mixing thallium into her 47-year-old mother's food in mid-August.
Her mother started complaining of a rash around then. Her health gradually deteriorated, and she was hospitalized on Oct. 2.
The girl also showed similar poisoning symptoms, and was herself hospitalized on Oct. 21.
Police suspect she could have been trying to kill herself, too.
Their other family members grew suspicious and contacted police.
Police officers searched the family's house and found a container of thallium powder in the girl's room.
When she had recovered sufficiently to leave the hospital on Monday, she was arrested.
"I have been aware that my mother has developed symptoms of poisoning, but I have nothing to do with that," she told Mishima police.
Thallium is a poisonous, metallic element used in rat poison and agricultural chemicals, and can be purchased online.
When ingested it causes hair loss and nerve and vision disorders. In acute poisoning cases, it can be fatal.
Sources said the girl gets good grades, and has also shown a strong interest in chemistry and biology experiments.
"She has been especially interested in chemicals," said the teacher of the chemistry club she belonged to, according to the school principal.
The girl had been seen feeding thallium to small animals, sources said.
She was also reading novels about murdering parents or colleagues with poisonous substances.
Police said they are considering a psychiatric test on the girl, who responded irrationally to questioning.
They also said it appears she had been writing to an online blog since August, under a man's name, about her mother's failing health.
On Aug. 19, a message read: "My mother's condition has been bad since yesterday. A rash has appeared all over her body."
A Sept. 12 message read, "It is almost impossible for my mother to move."
And then a later message: "My mother was hospitalized on Oct. 2."
The dates correspond exactly to the actual incidents.
Police are examining a diary she kept on her computer for a possible motive.
"We are puzzled by such an unpredictable incident," said Hiroshi Asaba, an official at the prefectural board of education.(IHT/Asahi: November 1,2005)
11/01/2005
The Asahi Shimbun
MISHIMA, Shizuoka Prefecture--A 16-year-old high school girl was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempting to kill her mother by regularly mixing rat poison into her food.
The mother remains in a coma, police said.
Police suspect the girl, a first-year senior high school student in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, started mixing thallium into her 47-year-old mother's food in mid-August.
Her mother started complaining of a rash around then. Her health gradually deteriorated, and she was hospitalized on Oct. 2.
The girl also showed similar poisoning symptoms, and was herself hospitalized on Oct. 21.
Police suspect she could have been trying to kill herself, too.
Their other family members grew suspicious and contacted police.
Police officers searched the family's house and found a container of thallium powder in the girl's room.
When she had recovered sufficiently to leave the hospital on Monday, she was arrested.
"I have been aware that my mother has developed symptoms of poisoning, but I have nothing to do with that," she told Mishima police.
Thallium is a poisonous, metallic element used in rat poison and agricultural chemicals, and can be purchased online.
When ingested it causes hair loss and nerve and vision disorders. In acute poisoning cases, it can be fatal.
Sources said the girl gets good grades, and has also shown a strong interest in chemistry and biology experiments.
"She has been especially interested in chemicals," said the teacher of the chemistry club she belonged to, according to the school principal.
The girl had been seen feeding thallium to small animals, sources said.
She was also reading novels about murdering parents or colleagues with poisonous substances.
Police said they are considering a psychiatric test on the girl, who responded irrationally to questioning.
They also said it appears she had been writing to an online blog since August, under a man's name, about her mother's failing health.
On Aug. 19, a message read: "My mother's condition has been bad since yesterday. A rash has appeared all over her body."
A Sept. 12 message read, "It is almost impossible for my mother to move."
And then a later message: "My mother was hospitalized on Oct. 2."
The dates correspond exactly to the actual incidents.
Police are examining a diary she kept on her computer for a possible motive.
"We are puzzled by such an unpredictable incident," said Hiroshi Asaba, an official at the prefectural board of education.(IHT/Asahi: November 1,2005)
It is in Japan.
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