A Middlesex County Jury convicted Monroe resident Tianle Li, 44, of poisoning her late husband, Xiaoye Wang, 39, in 2011.
By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
NEW BRUNSWICK — A Middlesex County Jury convicted Monroe resident Tianle Li, 44, of poisoning her late husband, Xiaoye Wang, 39, in 2011.
The jury of six men and six women took about two hours Tuesday to find Ms. Li guilty of her husband’s murder and of hindering her own apprehension by lying about having access to the poison, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Jim O’Neil.
Deliberations in the six-week trial began last week, but a juror was removed Tuesday citing a financial hardship and was replaced by an alternate, according to Mr. O’Neil.
On Jan. 14, 2011, the date the Monroe couple’s divorce was supposed to be finalized, Mr. Wang checked himself into the University Medical Center at Princeton while suffering from flu-like symptoms such as lung ailments and congestion.
Eleven days later, the hospital discovered he had been poisoned with thallium, but there wasn’t enough time to cure him, and he died the next day after falling into a coma.
Thallium is a soft, odorless, malleable and highly toxic metal found in the earth’s crust. It was used in rat poisoning and insecticides in the United States before production of the metal was banned in 1984.
Outside the United States, it primarily is used in electronic devices, switches and closures.
At least five cases involving thallium poisoning have been publicized within the past few decades.
Ms. Li, a chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb on Route 206, pleaded not guilty Feb. 9, 2011, to the charges of hindering apprehension and causing the death of her husband.
The prosecution proved that Ms. Li used her position at work to acquire the deadly substance and then administered it to him over a period of time, including while he was hospitalized.
Ms. Li will be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Sept. 30 in front of Superior Court Judge Michael A. Toto sitting in New Brunswick, according to Mr. O’Neil.
Middlesex County Acting Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Christie L. Bevacqua and Middlesex County Acting Assistant Prosecutor Allysa Gambarella presented evidence and testimony showing Li administered poison to her husband in Monroe.
Ms. Li’s defense attorney Steven Altman of New Brunswick could not be reached to comment on the verdict as of Tuesday evening.
Mr. Wang’s family also filed a civil lawsuit against the hospital and Bristol-Myers Squibb in addition to the criminal case.
According to the family, Mr. Wang told doctors that his wife was poisoning him, and on Jan. 18 they began testing him for thallium poisoning, but the positive results did not come until a week later.
Brian Fritz, attorney for the firm representing the family, said in an earlier interview that the medical center should have taken affirmative, proactive measures to make sure Mr. Wang was safe and secure in the hospital facility.
”They didn’t call anyone outside of the hospital until he slipped into a coma,” he said in the earlier interview.
Mr. Wang’s brothers, Xiabing and Weigou, came from China and Washington state, respectively, to file the complaint in Camden and take care of Mr. Wang’s house on Stanley Drive.
Ultimately Mr. Wang and Ms. Li’s small child, Isaac, 4, would be the one to receive the estate. Isaac is currently staying with Ms. Li’s mother.