Chinese in US accused of poisoning

A University of 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 did not get along, then tried to flee the country after police questioned her.

Wang Aili, 32, was arrested on Tuesday last week at Los Angeles International Airport, where prosecutors allege she sought to return to 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 had done in China.

Aili Wang, a University of Wyoming microbiology graduate student, is pictured at the university in Laramie on May 2, 2024.

Photo: AP

Wang remained jailed without bail on Tuesday in Los 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.

US officials for years have accused China of stealing intellectual property from US universities.

Mark Gomelsky, the microbiology professor overseeing both graduate students, said that the accusations left him reeling.

He was uncertain if the victim would fully recover, Gomelsky said.

“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,” he told reporters. “That was one of the worst shocks in my professional career.”

Wang had no attorney listed in court documents.

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.

The victim and campus police set up surveillance cameras in the office space he shared with Wang at the university in Laramie.

Wang allegedly was recorded on Sept. 27 going through K.T’s 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.

Wang and the alleged victim, who did not share research areas, did not get along, the affidavit said.

During an interview by campus police on Oct. 5, Wang allegedly said she “had not used acrylamide in 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 US$200,000 bond upon 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,” the affidavit said.

Wang “was reportedly working on similar research in China before coming to the US,” it said.

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 reporters.

The alleged victim began experiencing extreme tiredness, inability to sleep and other unexplained symptoms soon after attending a prestigious conference in August, Gomelsky said.

K.T. also noticed a strange taste in the tea that he made with a small coffee maker on his desk, Gomelsky said.

When he washed the coffee maker, the taste would go away, Gomelsky said.

Suspecting someone in their shared office could be poisoning the graduate student, he said that a chemistry professor tested the water and identified acrylamide.

Wang faces a felony aggravated assault and battery charge in Wyoming punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a US$10,000 fine.