An Arizona woman is behind bars after allegedly trying to slowly kill her husband for months by putting bleach in his morning coffee.
Melody Johnson of Tucson was indicted by a grand jury on counts of attempted first-degree murder, attempted aggravated assault and food and drink poisoning. CNN reported. She was arrested on July 18. NBC News reported.
court documents received from KVOA TV in Tucson say the husband – who was not named in initial reports but is identified by CNN as Roby Johnson – began suspecting his wife of poisoning him in late March. Roby is in the US Air Force and was stationed in Germany at the time. The couple divorced, but still lived with his son in the country.
In March, Roby says he noticed his coffee had a “bad” taste, according to the records. A few weeks later he bought chemical test strips for the pool. He tested the water in his faucet, which was back to normal. But when he tested the water in his coffee pot, it showed “high levels of chlorine,” the documents say.
In May, Roby set up a camera in the home, which caught Melody “pouring something into his coffee pot,” according to the complaint. Roby stopped drinking the coffee at that point, but said he pretended to continue drinking it until the family returned to the United States on June 28 because he did not want to press charges in Germany.
Roby reportedly caught Melody on camera on July 5 “walking over to his coffee maker and pouring something into his water container” while the family was temporarily based at a hotel at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. Roby showed the video to police, but officers told him what Melody poured into the machine’s bin was not visible and that his report was taken “without further processing,” the complaint said.
When the family moved to permanent housing on July 7, Roby installed more cameras that looked like fire alarms and were attached to the ceiling, according to court documents. One was placed in the laundry room where bleach was stored, another was placed above the coffee maker, and a third was placed to indicate the space between the two areas, the documents said.
With the new setup, Roby was able to collect several videos showing Melody “taking bleach, pouring it into a container, and then going over and pouring it into the coffee maker,” the documents said.
A search warrant was issued for the home following Melody Johnson’s arrest, during which police found liquid in the coffee maker “that smelled of bleach” as well as a container under her bathroom sink that also smelled of bleach.
According to the court documents, investigators believe Roby Johnson “believes she tried to kill him to collect death benefit.”
According to CNN, Melody Johnson is being held in the Pima County Jail until her next court date, which is scheduled for Sept. 6.
The complaint also said that a large bail is recommended because Melody Johnson recently bought a home near her family in the Philippines and is therefore at risk of absconding.