DANBURY, Conn. (Court TV) — A Connecticut woman is charged with the attempted murder of her ex after allegedly poisoning his drinks with the main ingredient in antifreeze.
Kristen Hogan is facing two counts of attempted murder after allegedly poisoning a bottle of wine. (Connecticut State Police)
Kristen Hogan, 33, is charged with two counts of attempted murder and interfering with an officer after her ex, identified in court documents as “Victim 1,” a 34-year-old man, was hospitalized with kidney failure.
The victim and Hogan, who separated in May, were in the middle of a custody dispute when the victim became ill on Aug. 10 and was taken to the hospital. Doctors determined he was suffering from ethylene glycol poisoning and was in kidney failure. Ethylene glycol is a synthetic liquid used in many household products, including antifreeze and brake fluids. He was placed on dialysis and taken to the intensive care unit, where he was treated and released.
The victim was immediately suspicious of Hogan and told officers he believed he had been poisoned. Days before the incident, the couple was due to appear in court on a motion filed by Hogan, but she never showed up. Instead, her phone was linked to the victim’s home Wi-Fi at the exact time of the hearing. Days later, the victim drank from an open bottle of wine in the refrigerator and became ill.
When the victim’s mother found him, he was “slurring his words, staggering and vomiting.” While initial tests on the wine did not reveal any contamination, an alternative test performed by investigators revealed “obvious amounts of ethylene glycol within the wine.”
Investigators searched Hogan’s phone and discovered she allegedly performed a number of searches for potassium cyanide, potassium ferricyanide, citrate-cyanide, potassium thiocyanate and monoethylene glycol, as well as a search for how much of each substance “would kill you.” She also allegedly searched for the “penalty for not appearing for a court hearing on your own motion.”
In an interview with officers, Hogan allegedly admitted to poisoning the victim, saying she “never intended to kill him, but just wanted to make him sick as payback for him being mentally abusive.” In addition to adding the chemical to the bottle of wine, Hogan allegedly told officers she also added it to a bottle of the victim’s iced tea on a prior occasion.
Hogan is being held on a $1 million bond. She is due back in court on Thursday.
