Girlfriend ‘murdered man by poisoning him with LAXATIVES and emptied £75,000 from his account as he lay in hospital’
DETECTIVES have arrested a woman who allegedly killed her boyfriend by poisoning him with laxatives for MONTHS.
The woman, 56, is suspected of spiking his food while he was in hospital and drained his bank account of £75,000.
His horrified family raised the alarm after realising that thousands of pounds of his savings had vanished after he died.
The 70-year-old had left medics baffled and they contacted police after ruling out food poisoning and stomach flu as the cause of his chronic diarrhoea.
His girlfriend is accused of withdrawing £50k from his bank account and went on a spending spree of £25k while he was in hospital in the eastern coast Spanish city of Valencia.
He was in hospital for seven months until his death with only a brief discharge lasting four days.
Local reports say one of the reasons investigators started suspecting his girlfriend was that the patient’s health would improve when he was admitted to intensive care where he wasn’t allowed visits.
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But once he was put back on a normal ward, where vistis were permitted, his condition would worsen again.
She was arrested by detectives after they seized several receipts showing chemist purchases of medicine to treat constipation.
As well as being held in relation to the death of her partner, she is also being investigated on suspicion on the crimes of misappropriation and fraud.
Laxative abuse leads to the body being deprived of the minerals and electrolytes it needs for proper functioning of the nerves and muscles.
It can result in serious intestinal harm as well as damage to the kidneys, heart and liver and - in severe cases - death.
It was not immediately clear how the alleged poisoning occurred but the woman arrested is thought to have slipped the laxatives into her partner’s food during mealtimes while she was visiting him in hospital.
She reportedly stopped his loved ones from visiting with false claims Covid restrictions meant they couldn’t see him.