A former Leigh University chemistry student pled guilty to charges that he poisoned his roommate with thallium that he purchased online. Yukai Yang is expected to serve 6–12 years in prison.
From C&EN:
Yang mixed thallium, a substance that is colorless, tasteless, odorless, and toxic to multiple organs, into Royal's food and drink in March 2018.
"This poisoning caused serious bodily injury in the nature of diarrhea, vomiting, skin lesions, syncope, dizziness, and, most severely, neurological effects in the nature of bilateral polyneuropathy," which involves damage to peripheral nerves, Katharine R. Kurnas, assistant district attorney in Pennsylvania's Northampton County District Attorney's Office, tells C&EN. "The victim continues to have no feeling whatsoever in his bilateral toes, more than two and a half years after the poisoning."
(Image: W. Oelen – http://woelen.homescience.net/science/index.html, CC BY-SA 3.0)
