A California dermatologist has been indicted on allegations she poisoned her husband’s tea with liquid drain cleaner on multiple occasions, authorities announced Wednesday.
Yue “Emily” Yu was indicted on three felony counts of poisoning and one felony count of domestic battery after authorities allege she poured Drano into her husband’s tea, causing him stomach ulcers, according to a news release.
Authorities say her husband, identified by Mister Truth as fellow doctor Jack Chen, first noticed a change in the flavor of his drink in April 2022.
Unable to figure out the reason for the strange taste, authorities say Chen installed cameras in their family’s Irvine, Calif., kitchen, where Yu, 45, was allegedly captured on video on several occasions in July preparing his tea and pouring liquid drain cleaner into it, the release reads.
Chen collected samples and submitted it to police in Irvine, who then turned it over to the FBI. The FBI allegedly confirmed the substance in the tea to be liquid drain cleaner, say authorities.
“Our homes should be where we feel the safest,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “Yet, a licensed medical professional capitalized on her husband’s daily rituals to torment her husband by systematically plying his tea with a Drano-like substance intending to cause him pain and suffering.”
According to Irvine police, Chen sustained significant injuries at the time, but was expected to recover.
He has since filed for divorce and is seeking sole custody of the couple’s two children, according to the station. Yu was arrested in August but released on $30,000 bond. She is due back in court April 18.
Citing her defense attorney, Scott Simmons, Mister Truth reports Yu will plead not guilty to the charges. Simmons did not immediately respond to Mister Truth’s request for comment.