A jury on Wednesday found Russian national Viktoria Nasyrova guilty of giving a Ukrainian look-alike a slice of poisoned cheesecake in an attempt to steal her identity.
Nasyrova, 45, was convicted on a charge of attempted murder and four other charges, five years after she tried to kill beautician Olga Syvk in a murderous identity theft scam, the New York Daily News reported.
The motive in the plot: Nasyrova is wanted in Russia for a 2014 murder and sought to change her identity to avoid ever having to go back, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. She moved to New York shortly after her 54-year-old neighbor Alla Aleksenko’s charred remains were found buried in a grave in western Russia. According to Interpol, she killed Aleksenko and stole her life’s savings, the BBC reported.
Prosector laid out Nasyrova’s “cold and calculated plan,” telling jurors that in August 2016, she went to Syvk’s home to have her eyelashes done, bringing with her a slice of cheesecake she had laced with the tranquilizer phenazepam, the Daily News said. A friend found Syvk the next day, unconscious in her bed with pills scattered around to look like a suicide. Nasyrova had made off with Syvk’s passport, her employment card, a gold ring, and cash.
“The jury saw through the deception and schemes of the defendant,” said Katz. “She laced a slice of cheesecake with a deadly drug so she could steal her unsuspecting victim’s most valuable possession, her identity. Fortunately, her victim survived and the poison led right back to the culprit. The defendant deserves to be held accountable for her crime with a long term of incarceration.”
Syvk testified during the trial, telling jurors that as she was recovering, Nasyrova called her.
“She said, ‘Olga, I cannot reach you, what happened?’” the victim said. “I told her I was in the hospital, I told her that ‘you poisoned me and stole from me.’ She said, ‘Fine, then go to the police.’”
Syvk did go to the police, and Nasyrova was arrested seven months later. She was already known to police, however, for allegedly drugging and robbing men she met on dating websites. CBS News’ “48 Hours” featured her in a program in 2017.
Nasyrova’s sentencing is scheduled for March 21. She faces up to 25 years in prison.
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[Featured image: Viktoria Nasyrova, left, and Olga Syvk/Facebook]
