Page 14 - IAV Digital Magazine #445

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Woman Accused of Poisoning Her Lookalike With Cheesecake To Steal Identity
A Russian woman was charged with poisoning her lookalike with a tranquilizer- laced cheese- cake and then stealing her passport, cash and other prop- erty after trying to make it look like a suicide attempt, authori- ties said on Wednesday.
“This is a bizarre and
twisted crime that could have resulted in the death of a Queens woman, whose only fault was that she shared similar features with the defendant,” said the Queens dis- trict attorney, Richard Brown.
The suspect, Viktoria Nasyrova, 42, of Brooklyn, was arraigned on Tuesday on
attempted mur- der, burglary, assault and other charges after being arrested in March 2017. Her lawyer, Barbara Byrne, declined to com- ment. In an ear- lier interview with CBS, Nasyrova denied forcing the woman to eat the cheese- cake.
In August 2016,
Nasyrova, visit- ed the Forest Hills, Queens, home of the 35- year-old victim bearing a gift of a cheesecake, said Brown. He added that both women have dark hair, the same skin com- plexion and speak Russian.
“The woman ate the cheesecake, fell ill and laid down,” Brown said. “Before
passing out, the woman’s last memory is of seeing the defendant sitting beside her inside her home.”
The following day, a friend found the victim unconscious in her bed, “dressed in lin- gerie with pills scattered around her body as if the woman had attempted to kill herself”, Brown said.
The woman was treated at a hos- pital and when she returned home she real- ized that her passport and employment authorization card were miss- ing, along with a gold ring and cash.
Law enforce- ment agents with the Department of Homeland Security tested the cheesecake and confirmed it was laced with the Russian tranquilizer Phenazepan. The pills con- tained the same drug as well, Brown said.
Nasyrova also is accused of drugging and killing a woman in her native country before fleeing to New York. She denied those charges in the CBS interview.
Nasyrova faces up to 25 years in prison if con- victed. She is next due in court on 25 May.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine