An Arizona woman is accused of slowly poisoning her former U.S. Air Force pilot husband by mixing bleach into his coffee over the course of several months, as detailed in court documents. Melody Johnson was arrested on July 18 after her husband allegedly showed police evidence of her putting the toxic substance into their coffee machine.
While stationed in Germany around the end of March 2023, the husband (who is not identified in court filings) began to notice that his coffee tasted awful. Johnson and her husband are divorcing, although they raised their child together. After two or three weeks of drinking the coffee, the husband decided to test the water coming out of his faucet using chemical testing strips and found it to be perfectly fine.
The water in his coffee maker tested positive for “high levels of chlorine,” according to the court papers. The spouse installed a camera in the house in May of 2023 and saw Johnson “pouring something into his coffee pot.” The complaint states that he hid the coffee and pretended to drink it until the family returned to the United States on June 28.
The tweet below verifies the news:
Woman arrested after allegedly poisoning her husband’s coffee with bleach. https://t.co/M5ltFTRfMN
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) August 6, 2023
On July 5, the husband allegedly witnessed Johnson “walk to his coffee maker and pour something into his water reservoir” as the couple was staying at a motel at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. The husband called the police the following day, but they informed him they couldn’t be sure what Johnson was putting into the coffee maker.
According to court documents, once the family settled into their new home on July 7, the husband installed other cameras in the ceiling that resembled smoke detectors. One was positioned over the coffee maker, another over the bleach storage area, and a third was positioned to depict movement between the two rooms.
Here are some more news from the California Examiner that you might find interesting:
- Phoenix Hiker Who Went Missing in Oregon is Found Dead From the Heat
- 400-pound Bear Hank Captured After Lake Tahoe Break-Ins
The spouse returned to the police after he had gathered various tapes purporting to show Johnson “take bleach, pour it into a container, and then walk over and pour it into the coffee maker,” as stated in court filings. The man told authorities he thinks his ex-wife was plotting to kill him so she could collect the insurance money.
Johnson was taken into custody by the Tucson PD and charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted aggravated assault, and tampering with food or drink containing poison. According to public records, she is currently being housed in the Pima County Adult Detention Center.
Johnson’s bedroom under her bathroom sink was searched, and authorities found a bottle with a liquid that smelled like bleach. According to the papers, there was a liquid inside the coffee maker that smelled like bleach. Johnson may or may not be represented by an attorney at this time.
If you save the California Examiner to your bookmarks, you may come back whenever you’re interested in reading more about the Golden State.
