DarkWingedAngel
January 24th, 2009, 04:51 PM
Vengeful ex cooked up allergy plot, police say
Former lover's car door handle was coated with 'nut-based product'
Jan 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Bob Mitchell
STAFF REPORTER
A spurned Burlington suitor who knew his former fiancée was allergic to nuts hatched a diabolic plan earlier this month to get back at her, Halton police say.
He allegedly coated the driver's door handle of her car in peanut oil.
The 49-year-old Burlington woman found the oily substance when she went to use her car Jan. 12, but didn't think much of it.
"She cleaned off the substance and washed her hands," Det. Sgt. Peter Hodgson of Halton's violence investigative unit said in a statement. "But she later began to feel unwell."
She went to a medical clinic, he said, and "was treated for an allergic reaction to nuts." She made a full recovery.
Even trace amounts of peanuts can cause a severe reaction or death in people allergic to them, triggering hives, welts and swelling that can restrict the throat.
Hodgson said the police investigation began eight days later when "the victim notified police of continuing unwanted contact with an ex-fiancé. Investigation revealed that the man had repeatedly made contact with her against her wishes.
"It was also determined that the man was responsible for smearing the nut-based product on the door handle of the victim's car, knowing that she was allergic to nuts," he said.
The former boyfriend, 47, now faces charges of administering a noxious substance and criminal harassment. The man, who has not been publicly identified to protect the woman's identity, appeared in court Thursday.
"It's an unusual case," said Halton's Sgt. Brian Carr. "But it's also very serious, because the victim could have had an allergy attack while driving and gotten into an accident."
Using nut-based substances as a weapon isn't a new idea. In 2001 a Toronto court heard how a 72-year-old local offered to pay a hit man $2,500 to kill his allergic son-in-law so he could continue to visit his grandchildren.
Last April, a Grade 8 Kentucky student was charged after he allegedly put peanut butter cookies in a fellow student's lunch box. The intended victim, who had a severe allergy to peanuts, wasn't hurt.
Former lover's car door handle was coated with 'nut-based product'
Jan 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Bob Mitchell
STAFF REPORTER
A spurned Burlington suitor who knew his former fiancée was allergic to nuts hatched a diabolic plan earlier this month to get back at her, Halton police say.
He allegedly coated the driver's door handle of her car in peanut oil.
The 49-year-old Burlington woman found the oily substance when she went to use her car Jan. 12, but didn't think much of it.
"She cleaned off the substance and washed her hands," Det. Sgt. Peter Hodgson of Halton's violence investigative unit said in a statement. "But she later began to feel unwell."
She went to a medical clinic, he said, and "was treated for an allergic reaction to nuts." She made a full recovery.
Even trace amounts of peanuts can cause a severe reaction or death in people allergic to them, triggering hives, welts and swelling that can restrict the throat.
Hodgson said the police investigation began eight days later when "the victim notified police of continuing unwanted contact with an ex-fiancé. Investigation revealed that the man had repeatedly made contact with her against her wishes.
"It was also determined that the man was responsible for smearing the nut-based product on the door handle of the victim's car, knowing that she was allergic to nuts," he said.
The former boyfriend, 47, now faces charges of administering a noxious substance and criminal harassment. The man, who has not been publicly identified to protect the woman's identity, appeared in court Thursday.
"It's an unusual case," said Halton's Sgt. Brian Carr. "But it's also very serious, because the victim could have had an allergy attack while driving and gotten into an accident."
Using nut-based substances as a weapon isn't a new idea. In 2001 a Toronto court heard how a 72-year-old local offered to pay a hit man $2,500 to kill his allergic son-in-law so he could continue to visit his grandchildren.
Last April, a Grade 8 Kentucky student was charged after he allegedly put peanut butter cookies in a fellow student's lunch box. The intended victim, who had a severe allergy to peanuts, wasn't hurt.