Chinese Graduate Student at University of Wyoming Charged With Poisoning Colleague's Tea, Arrested at LAX
A University of Wyoming microbiology graduate student from China has been charged with a felony after prosecutors accused her of poisoning a colleague's tea with the chemical acrylamide and then trying to leave the United States after police questioned her, according to The Associated Press. Aili Wang, 32, was arrested on Oct. 6 at Los Angeles International Airport, where prosecutors allege she was seeking to return to China. She faces a charge of aggravated assault and battery in Albany County Circuit Court in Wyoming.
The case centers on the university's campus in Laramie. According to an affidavit by a University of Wyoming campus police officer, Wang shared an office with the victim, the two worked in different research areas, and they did not get along. The victim's name has not been made public and is given only as "K.T." in court documents. The affidavit says K.T.'s federally funded, patent-pending research involved new technology for the treatment of cancer and neurological and genetic diseases, and was similar to research Wang had done in China before coming to the United States.
Mark Gomelsky, the microbiology professor who oversaw both students, told The Associated Press that K.T. is a high-achieving student from Vietnam who discovered how to deliver RNA into human cells using bacteria, and that Wang failed her first attempt to defend her dissertation and became envious of her colleague's success. Gomelsky said K.T. began experiencing extreme tiredness, an inability to sleep and other unexplained symptoms soon after attending a prestigious conference in August, and noticed a strange taste in the tea he brewed with a small coffee maker on his desk, a taste that went away when he washed the machine.
According to the affidavit, K.T.'s wife and others boiled away water from the coffee maker and isolated 63 milligrams of a white powder that tested positive for acrylamide, and turned the sample over to campus police. Tak Sumaya, an assistant professor who helped identify the substance, said acrylamide is not something that would be found in that quantity in such a place. The victim and campus police then installed surveillance cameras in the shared office.
The affidavit says Wang was recorded on Sept. 27 going through K.T.'s desk. On Oct. 1, she was recorded taking photos and manipulating notebooks on his desk, as well as rinsing out his mug with a liquid from her own mug. Sumaya said Wang photographed every page of a notebook K.T. had left on his desk. Police say Wang bought acrylamide twice last summer through the online retailer eBay and asked eBay to delete her account after the purchases.
Campus police interviewed Wang on Oct. 5; according to the affidavit, she said she had not used acrylamide in years. She was taken into custody the next day in Los Angeles, carrying multiple laptops, portable external storage devices, physical records and written materials, which are now in police possession. Court documents list no attorney for Wang, and The Associated Press said it tried to reach her by email and LinkedIn without success.
Wang remains jailed in Los Angeles without bail, and it is not clear when she will be extradited to Wyoming. Albany County Circuit Court Judge Robert Sanford granted prosecutors' request to raise her bond from $200,000 to $1.5 million, cash only. The aggravated assault and battery charge carries up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Gomelsky said K.T. continues to suffer symptoms, including an inability to focus, tiring easily and a loss of sensation in his left hand. He said acrylamide is a neurotoxin, and that it is unclear whether K.T. will fully recover.
In a statement, the University of Wyoming said a graduate student has been charged with aggravated assault in connection with allegations that she used a substance to harm a colleague in a UW laboratory. The charge was filed last week in Albany County Circuit Court following a UW Police Department investigation and was brought by the Albany County Attorney's Office; the university is separately following its normal processes in a student conduct proceeding. UW President Shane Reeves said the university takes matters involving the health and safety of the campus community seriously. The university emphasized that these are only allegations, and that individuals are presumed innocent pending trial or resulting conviction in any matter.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 怀俄明大学老主楼（Old Main）。Thecoldmidwest 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，维基共享资源
