Michelle Peters, 47, faces serious charges after allegedly spiking the Mountain Dew of her husband with Roundup weed killer. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, Peters admitted to poisoning her spouse because he was “not appreciative” of the festivities she had planned.
Husband’s alarming discovery
On Monday, Peters’ husband reported his suspicions to the Laclede County Sheriff’s Office, believing his wife was poisoning him. He recounted how his Mountain Dew tasted “odd” and “weird,” and how he fell ill shortly after consuming it. Initially dismissing his symptoms, he grew more concerned after two weeks of coughing up brown or yellow mucus, experiencing a sore throat, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
He noted that Mountain Dew drinks consumed outside their Missouri home tasted normal, while the two-litre bottles stored in their garage tasted off. This discrepancy prompted him to review CCTV footage, which allegedly showed Peters mixing Roundup with Mountain Dew and returning the tampered bottles to the garage fridge.
Evidence and confession
The affidavit states that the husband noticed every new bottle he placed in the refrigerator was tampered with by Peters. He provided a bottle of the contaminated drink and the CCTV footage to someone for safekeeping “in case he died from being poisoned.” When he confronted Peters about his illness, she allegedly dismissed his symptoms as COVID-19 and advised him to stay away from their grandkids.
Under police questioning, Peters initially claimed she was creating “weed killer that she saw on Pinterest” but later admitted she “should have just divorced” her husband. She expressed anger over her husband’s lack of appreciation for a 50th birthday party she had thrown for him, according to the affidavit.
Peters faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. She is currently held at the Laclede County Detention Center with no bond and is scheduled to appear in court on July 2.
Peters’ husband, who remains unidentified, suspects she poisoned him either to claim his $500,000 life insurance payout or due to a possible affair. This case comes just months after another Missouri woman was similarly accused of poisoning her husband, caught on video lacing his smoothie with a toxic lily.