SAN DIEGO — Marine Sgt. Todd Sommer had nausea, vomiting, chills, fever, diarrhea — the classic symptoms of food poisoning — when he went to see base physicians in February 2002.

In fact, records indicate Sommer told doctors that his gastrointestinal troubles started just two days earlier, about two hours after he ate "two egg rolls and a bag of chips" from a roadside gas station in El Centro, Calif. (VIDEO)

The Marine was sent home with four different prescriptions. And for a while, he seemed to be getting better.

But his symptoms came back days later with a vengeance. The following Sunday, after spending the weekend with his family at the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park, Todd Sommer collapsed on his bedroom floor in the middle of the night and was soon pronounced dead at a military hospital.

The healthy 23-year-old Marine, investigators later learned, had more than 1,000 times the normal levels of arsenic in his liver, and elevated levels in his kidneys and other tissues.

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His wife and accused killer, 33-year-old Cynthia Sommer, quietly cried and held a tissue to her eyes as she sat at the defense table Tuesday morning. She was listening along with the jury to her frantic voice on the 911 call she made Feb. 18, 2002, at 1:45 a.m.

"I love you, please! I love you!" Sommer could be heard telling a lifeless Todd, while the dispatcher assured her that paramedics were on the way.

The mother of four is now facing life in prison without parole if convicted of poisoning her husband to collect more than $250,000 in his insurance benefits.

In two and a half days of testimony, prosecutors have introduced more than a dozen witnesses who have described Todd Sommer's painful death, his wife's concern for money, and the ease with which anyone can go online and purchase the lethal poison that appears to have taken his life.

But prosecutors have no evidence linking the defendant to arsenic.

Todd Sommer's cause of death was initially ruled heart failure, simply because nothing else seemed to fit, a forensic pathologist told jurors Tuesday.

"Our findings, basically, were none," said Dr. Steven Robinson, the medical examiner who conducted an autopsy on Feb. 19.

Robinson said that the 6-foot-1, 204-pound Marine had an anatomically normal heart. Drug and alcohol tests were also negative, except for the Lidocaine that emergency medical technicians had administered.

"Did you see any reason at the time to suspect foul play?" Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn asked.

"No, ma'am," Robinson said.

Todd Sommer's tissue samples, preserved and sent to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., underwent heavy-metals testing more than a year later and were found to contain the elevated levels of arsenic.

His cause of death was changed to acute arsenic poisoning, and as is typical in suspicious homicides, his wife — and her bizarre behavior after Todd's death — became a main focus of the investigation.

On Feb. 8, the same day Todd fell ill, Cynthia Sommer had a consultation on breast enhancement surgery. A receptionist at the surgeon's office, Betsi Walker, testified Tuesday that Sommer had a "before" photo taken and was quoted a price of $5,400.

Sommer had about $280 in the bank at the time, according to investigators, but she received a $6,000 death gratuity payment the day after Todd's death.

The defense pointed out that Sommer listed Todd as her emergency contact in case anything went wrong during surgery. She also was given information about financing plans, which could have given her up to five years to pay for the implants.

Sommer had the surgery April 18, two months after her husband died.