‘I did it’: U.S. lab employee allegedly admits to poisoning co-worker’s water bottle – National
Makoto Kuroda, 41, a worker at the University of Wisconsin, was charged with recklessly endangering safety and tampering with a household product with intent to harm, according to Dane County court records, after he admitted to a fellow employee that he was responsible, as alleged in a criminal complaint.
According to the document filed last week, an officer responded to a call reporting that chemicals had been discovered in a water bottle belonging to an employee at the Influenza Research Institute in Madison, Wis., on April 6.
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A research facility employee — identified as AK — told officers that an investigator had previously asked her to smell a water bottle belonging to a colleague, identified in the complaint as TM, and that she noticed it smelled off. The investigator then informed her that it may contain chemicals, the complaint says.
TM’s lab shoes also smelled of chemicals, it added.
The water bottle had been sitting on TM’s desk for several days before police were notified, the complaint says. TM told investigators he first noticed a strange smell emanating from the bottle on April 5 and that he had taken a sip and spat it out the day before due to an odd flavour.
There were no reports of illness or sickness, it added.
After noticing the bizarre odour and taste, TM dumped the water but kept the bottle and his lab shoes, the complaint says.
He told investigators he believed the smell coming from his shoes was chloroform, which he said he does not use and is not stored in his office, but is used in experiments in other parts of the facility and is accessible to all employees, the criminal complaint says.
TM also informed officers he did not know anyone who used it and did not have issues with anyone at work or any idea who may have added dangerous chemicals to his drink.
Chemical testing confirmed the presence of such a large quantity of chloroform in the water bottle that the test strips could not provide an accurate reading, the criminal complaint says.
On April 10, Kuroda was identified by police as the person responsible for the poisoning after AK informed officers he verbally admitted to TM and supervisors that he was the one who put a substance in TM’s water bottle the day the incident was reported.
According to the report, Kuroda approached TM in the lab and said, “I did it.”
TM told officers he and Kuroda had been good friends but recently drifted apart for an unknown reason.
Kuroda reportedly admitted to a senior employee that he had poisoned TM’s drink because TM was not following a rule requiring staff to wear lab coats and goggles, and that he was angered by other minor things TM had done, including a shift in attitude after a promotion.
The defendant also told the employee that he put a substance called paraformaldehyde into TM’s drink.
Kuroda is currently being held in Dane County Jail and has yet to enter a plea, records show.
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