PERRY, Ga. — Although firefighter Randy Thompson showed up at an emergency room in January 2001 complaining of flu-like symptoms, he had actually been poisoned, prosecutors say.

But it was a second dose of the toxin ethylene glycol ingested within 24 hours of his emergency room visit that probably killed him, according to a medical examiner who testified Wednesday in the murder trial of Thompson's girlfriend, Julia Lynn Turner.

Turner, 35, is a suspect in Thompson's death, but is only charged with killing her husband, 31-year-old police officer Glenn Turner, in 1995 by feeding him antifreeze — a product that contains 95 percent ethylene glycol. Both men checked into the ER complaining of flu-like symptoms in the days before their deaths, and both deaths were later ruled homicides.

A judge ruled that, because of the similiarities in the two cases, prosecutors could present evidence regarding Thompson's death.

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Dr. Kris Sperry, the chief medical examiner at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told jurors that, based on the typical stages of ethylene glycol poisoning, it appeared that Thompson had first ingested antifreeze sometime in the previous two days before he went to the emergency room, on Jan. 20, 2001.

Because Thompson left the hospital feeling better, Sperry stated that the firefighter likely ingested more antifreeze shotly thereafter, based on the levels of ethylene glycol they found in his blood and urine samples upon death.

Chief Medical Examiner Kris Sperry: A second dose of poison likely killed Randy Thompson.

"You could die from cumulative doses?" Prosecutor Patrick Head asked. "Yes. Over a relatively short period of time, the damage accumulates to where it could cause death."

Sperry could not indicate exactly how much Thompson may have ingested, but stated that "for most adults, a dose of about 100 milliliters," or three ounces, "is enough to kill you."

"There are adult deaths where as little as an ounce or so can kill you," Sperry added later. "If someone gets medical care quickly, they have a better chance of survival."

Bad math

Jurors also heard from a Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab analyst on Wednesday, who explained why he was in error when he initially determined that Thompson did not test positive for a "significant amount" of ethylene glycol.

Forensic toxicologist Chris Tilson said that on Jan. 23, 2001, the lab received three test tubes of blood and two test tubes of urine that came from the body of Randy Thompson. Tilson tested the blood on April 6, using gas chromatography mass spectrometry, and found that the quantity of ethylene glycol present was 38 milligrams per liter, a level too low to be considered a positive result.

But this finding did not sit well with the medical examiner, Dr. Mark Koponen, who testified Tuesday that he saw calcium oxalate crystals — a hallmark of ethylene glycol poisoning — in Thompson's kidney tissues during a postmortem autopsy, and that he had no knowledge of any way such crystals would be present other than from ethylene glycol.

Toxicologist Chris Tilson described his analysis of ethylene glycol in the victim's blood.

As a result of the inconsistency, one tube of blood and one tube of urine were sent on April 11, 2001, to a private Pennsylvania lab, National Medical Services, for additional testing. In the meantime, Tilson said, Thompson's urine specimen was tested, and the result positive for a "fairly large amount" of ethylene glycol confounded him. He decided to retest Thompson's blood, and after several tries, he found a mean level of 380 milligrams per liter now, a significant amount, if still somewhat low.

"I had made a mathematical calculation error," Tilson said. "I took full responsibility for the error." Based on his 10-fold miscalculation, Tilson said the lab has since instituted greater quality-control measures.

Tests conducted subsequently by NMS revealed that Turner had ethylene glycol in his kidney tissues. The level of ethylene glycol in Thompson's blood, however, was on the low end for the range generally found in fatal cases. But NMS forensic toxicologist William Dunn previously testified that any amount of ethylene glycol in a healthy adult would be considered abnormal.

Although a jury is only deciding Lynn Turner's guilt or innocence in her husband's death, a court ruling allows the prosecution to introduce "similar transaction evidence" surrounding Thompson's death.

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Thursday morning. Court TV is broadcasting the trial.