Wyoming Student Arrested in Colleague Poisoning Case

Aili Wang, a 32-year-old University of Wyoming graduate student, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 6 after prosecutors alleged she poisoned a colleague’s tea with acrylamide and was trying to return to China. She remains jailed in Los Angeles pending extradition to Wyoming, where she faces a felony aggravated assault and battery charge. The allegations are detailed in a University of Wyoming campus police affidavit and court filings. The colleague, identified in court documents as K.T., became ill with symptoms including fatigue, numbness, weakness and difficulty concentrating. His wife and others isolated 63 milligrams of powder from water in a coffee maker used to prepare tea. The sample tested positive for acrylamide, according to the affidavit. The affidavit says surveillance cameras in an office Wang shared with the colleague recorded her going through his desk on Sept. 27. On Oct. 1, she was allegedly recorded photographing notebooks and rinsing his mug with liquid from her own mug. The two students did not get along, the affidavit says. During a campus police interview on Oct. 5, Wang allegedly said she had not used acrylamide in years.