A Wyoming microbiology graduate student from China has been arrested on accusations she poisoned the tea of a colleague who had pending patents and with whom she didn't get along, then tried to flee the country after police questioned her.
asserted
police → arrest → her
Aili Wang, 32, was arrested Oct. 6 at Los Angeles International Airport, where prosecutors allege she sought to return to China.
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she → arrest → China
With her were laptops, electronic storage devices and documents now in the possession of police, who allege Wang was seen on surveillance video rummaging through the desk of the victim who specialized in technology for disease treatment - research similar to work she'd done in China.
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she → allege → China
Wang remained jailed without bail Tuesday in Los Angeles
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Wang → jail → Angeles
She allegedly bought a chemical, acrylamide, over eBay, and it was first detected when the alleged victim's wife and others tested water from the coffee maker he used to brew tea.
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he → buy → tea
U.S. officials for years have accused China of stealing intellectual property from American universities.
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officials → accuse → universities
The microbiology professor overseeing both graduate students, Mark Gomelsky, said the accusations left him reeling.
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accusations → oversee → him
He was uncertain if the victim will fully recover.
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victim → recover → ?
"It's been disheartening, to say the least, to see that one of your student's life is in jeopardy and another student may be responsible for that," Gomelsky told The Associated Press.
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Gomelsky → say → Press
Wang had no attorney listed in court documents.
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Wang → have → documents
The AP tried to reach her via email and LinkedIn messages.
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AP → try → email
Amateur sleuthing helps campus cops develop case
The police investigation began after the victim, identified in court documents as "K.T.," began experiencing symptoms and his wife and others allegedly isolated the chemical in the coffee maker water.
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wife → help → water
The victim and campus police then set up surveillance cameras in the office space he shared with Wang at the university in Laramie.
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he → set → Laramie
Wang allegedly was recorded Sept. 27 going through the alleged victim's desk.
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Wang → record → desk
On Oct. 1, she was recorded "taking photos and manipulating notebooks" on his desk, as well as rinsing out his mug with a liquid from her own mug, a University of Wyoming campus police officer's affidavit said.
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affidavit → record → Wyoming
Wang and the alleged victim, who did not share research areas, did not get along, according to the affidavit.
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who → allege → affidavit
During an interview by campus police on Oct. 5, Wang allegedly said she "had not used acrylamide in years."
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she → say → years
A day later she was taken into custody in Los Angeles while in possession of "multiple laptops, multiple portable external digital storage devices, related accessories, physical records and written materials," according to a request by Wyoming prosecutors to "significantly increase" her $200,000 bond upon extradition.
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she → take → extradition
Wang had no reason to go through the desk of the other student whose federally funded, patent-pending research involved "new technology for cancer, neurological and genetic disease treatment," according to the affidavit.
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research → have → affidavit
Wang "was reportedly working on similar research in China before coming to the U.S.," the affidavit alleges.
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affidavit → work → U.S.
Alleged victim is a high-achieving student
Gomelsky described the alleged victim as a highly successful student from Vietnam.
Wang failed her first attempt to defend her dissertation and became envious of her colleague's success in discovering how to deliver RNA to human cells using bacteria, Gomelsky told The Associated Press.
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Gomelsky → achieve → Press
The alleged victim began experiencing extreme tiredness, inability to sleep and other unexplained symptoms soon after attending a prestigious conference in August, Gomelsky said.
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Gomelsky → allege → August
He also noticed a strange taste in the tea that he made with a small coffee maker on his desk, Gomelsky said.
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Gomelsky → notice → desk
When he washed the coffee maker, Gomelsky said, the taste would go away.
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taste → wash → maker
Suspecting someone in their shared office could be poisoning the graduate student, Gomelsky said a chemistry professor tested the water and identified acrylamide.
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professor → suspect → acrylamide
Wang had not been doing lab work since June while she worked on her dissertation, he said.
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he → do → dissertation
Suspect faces return to Wyoming to face charges
Wang faces a felony aggravated assault and battery charge in Wyoming punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
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Wang → face → prison
It's not clear when she could be extradited to the state, where Albany County Circuit Court Judge Robert Sanford granted prosecutors' request and raised bond to $1.5 million cash-only.
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Sanford → extradite → cash
Wang allegedly asked eBay to delete her account after she bought acrylamide over the online retail site twice last summer, police said.
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police → ask → site
Best known as a carcinogenic byproduct of cooking starchy food and burning tobacco, acrylamide can be acutely toxic in high doses.
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acrylamide → know → doses
It's used in microbiology research involving proteins or DNA.
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It → use → proteins
Discovery of the substance immediately made Tak Sumaya, an assistant professor who helped identify it in the coffee maker water, suspicious.
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who → make → water
Acrylamide is "not something you would find in that kind of quantity anywhere," Sumaya said.
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Sumaya → find → quantity
The alleged victim was working on "a pretty promising cancer therapy method," Sumaya said.
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Sumaya → work → method
Wang, Sumaya added, took photos of every page of a notebook the alleged victim left on his desk.
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victim → add → desk
"You wouldn't do that with like your office or lab mate's notebook unless there's a really good reason, and there wasn't," Sumaya said.
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Sumaya → do → notebook
Professor says the victim is still experiencing symptoms
The alleged victim went to the campus health clinic in August with worsening finger tingling and numbness, and leg weakness.
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victim → say → tingling
Suspicion led his wife and others to boil away coffee maker water from the shared office to isolate 63 milligrams of white powder that tested positive for acrylamide, according to the affidavit.
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that → lead → affidavit
The amateur investigators turned the sample over to university police.
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investigators → turn → police
The alleged victim continues to experience symptoms from the poisoning, including not being able to focus, tiring easily and a loss of sensation in his left hand, Gomelsky said.
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Gomelsky → continue → hand
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
