Results tagged “cyanide”

Maureen Steeves died yesterday at Brookhaven Hospital, days after her husband David Steeves was arrested for poisoning her with cyanide that he allegedly poured in her coffee two weeks ago. It seems likely that a grand jury will now up the attempted murder charges against him to homicide. Steeves pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. He's now being held in isolation in a Riverhead jail. The couple's two teenage sons, whom Steeves shared the web sites where he learned about cyanide with, are staying with their late mother's brother for the time being.

The Suffolk County police say that David Steeves admitted to poisoning his estranged wife. Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said, "It all happened since he told her he was gay... He told us that he didn't want to see her with anyone else." On Oct. 18, Steeves apparently put cyanide (bought on the Internet) in Maureen Steeves' coffee and left the house. When he returned, she was on the floor and he brought her to the hospital. Two days later, he took their sons to England; police arrested him today at a bank near JFK Airport. Steeves' lawyer said his client was innocent, "He says the police roughed him up and forced him to give a confession." However, police say that Steeves "looked at Web sites that showed among other things if cyanide would show up in an autopsy." Maureen Steeves is still in the hospital; charges against him will likely be upgraded if she dies.