The Vietnamese-born graduate student was poisoned with a nerve agent by colleague Aili Wang at the University of Wyoming and only realized it when he saw the tea had a strange taste.
AP On October 14, it was reported that Aili Wang, a 32-year-old Chinese national studying for a master’s and doctoral program in microbiology at the University of Wyoming, USA, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on October 6 on charges of “causing serious injury” and is being detained.
Wang is accused of poisoning the drink of a Vietnamese graduate student who was preparing to apply for a patent in the field of disease treatment technology. The victim’s identity has not been released, only being abbreviated as “KT” in court records.
Since August, the victim began to have symptoms of severe fatigue, insomnia, numb fingers and leg tremors. One day, while making tea using the coffee maker at his office, the victim noticed the tea had a strange taste.
Afterwards, the victim’s wife and bystanders boiled the water in the coffee maker and collected 63 mg of white powder and turned it over to the police. This substance was identified as acrylamide, a type of neurotoxin.
PhD student Aili Wang. Image: AP
Surveillance cameras inside the lab recorded Wang taking photos of the victim’s research notes and rinsing the victim’s cup with liquid from his own cup.
Investigation revealed that Wang had developed jealousy towards the victim, who was achieving great success in researching new technology related to the treatment of cancer and genetic diseases. Meanwhile, Wang failed the first round of defending his graduation thesis.
If convicted in court, Wang could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Microbiology professor Mark Gomelsky, who directly supervised both graduate students, said he was extremely shocked by the incident.
“It’s heartbreaking to see a graduate student’s life being threatened, while the person who caused it could have been another graduate student. It was one of the biggest shocks in my career,” Mr. Gomelsky said.
The professor said the victim is still affected by symptoms caused by poisoning, such as loss of concentration, rapid fatigue and loss of feeling in the left hand.
“Acrylamide is a neurotoxin that cannot be neutralized, it exists in nerve cells and essentially kills them. Therefore, it is unclear whether he will be able to fully recover,” he added.