A Wisconsin couple are accused of trying to poison two women the man dated.
Paul VanDuyne Jr., 43, and Andrea Whitaker, 41, have each been charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, recklessly endangering the public and stalking.
On Friday, they appeared in court separately with separate lawyers in Janesville, in Dane County.
Bail was set at $10 million for VanDuyne, who prosecutors said is rather wealthy, and $4 million for Whitaker.
One victim, from a dating app, said that she discovered Whitaker crouched next to her car in her garage in April. Since then, she has had others stay with her overnight, has hidden her car, and installed a security system: “I need the court’s protection,” she said. “The community needs the court’s protection”, the woman begged.
“I was never his girlfriend, yet he and Andrea developed the delusion that I was,” said the woman. “This delusion was so strong, they tried to murder me. Their actions and motivations are disconnected from reality. Both have shown their capacity for evil.”
Paul VanDuyne, who is a Princeton-educated mechanical engineer with extensive knowledge of chemistry, also met pharmacology student Andrea Whitaker online, where they formed a virtual relationship until she moved to be with him after his divorce.
The apps or websites used have not been named.
Their plotting together was discovered after a doctor from the Wisconsin Poison Center reported that a woman was hospitalized with thallium in her system — commercially banned since 1975, and thus an obvious act of malevolence.
The woman ended up in the hospital after taking her young sister to the movies, and both becoming ill. A toxic gas container was discovered in her car.
It turns out that the couple would taint water bottles and cars with poison they either procured or concocted.
One woman dated VanDuyne two years prior. After months of no contact, he sent her text messages calling her evil and blaming her for a suicide that did not actually occur — Whitaker’s.
The woman is currently still wheelchair-bound, and is considered lucky to be alive.
The other woman was hunted by the nefarious couple in a Costco parking lot, where they broke into her car and poisoned her water bottle with cyanide and thallium.
Investigators discovered that the couple were stalking the women with cameras planted outside their homes and had even tampered with their cars’ ventilation systems.
An FBI hazardous materials team was called to help with the search.
VanDuyne is due in Dane County court again on August 4.
Whitaker, aiding a felon, is scheduled for an appearance on July 2.
