Woman tried to help boyfriend poison ex-girlfriends: DA
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Background: News footage of the hazmat investigation in Madison, Wis. (WMTV). Insets (left to right): Paul Van Duyne and Andrea Whitaker (Dane County Jail).

A Wisconsin couple accused of allegedly attempting to poison the man’s ex-girlfriends with cyanide is at the center of a multiagency investigation that landed several agents in the hospital.

Paul Van Duyne, 43, and Andrea Whitaker, 41, are both in custody at the Dane County Jail after prosecutors charged them with several felonies related to multiple hazmat investigations throughout Wisconsin. Van Duyne is charged with one count of stalking and two counts of attempted first-degree murder; Whitaker is charged with harboring and aiding a felon and one count of attempted first-degree murder.

During Whitaker’s bail hearing on Wednesday, Dane County Assistant District Attorney William Brown told the court that her search history revealed several inquiries about cyanide, including “What does cyanide look like?”

Other alleged searches included “Cyanide lethal dose?” and “Does potassium cyanide cloud water?”

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WMTV, a local NBC affiliate, was in the courtroom for Whitaker’s hearing, during which Brown outlined the charges against her. According to WMTV’s reporting, Brown said that Van Duyne allegedly attempted to kill two of his ex-girlfriends with cyanide and enlisted Whitaker to help him cover up evidence, saying, “It does appear that this defendant and Mr. Van Duyne have started dating and apparently created this plot to kill his ex-girlfriends by poisoning them with cyanide valium poisons.”

Local ABC affiliate WISN was also in the courtroom when Brown revealed Whitaker’s internet search history in court, stating, “‘Does potassium cyanide cloud water?’ ‘Sodium cyanide odor, sodium cyanide.’ Over and over again, she’s searching different kinds of poisons. ‘What does cyanide look like?’ ‘Cyanide lethal dose?'”

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