An Arizona woman has been charged with attempted murder of her airman husband after she was allegedly caught on camera pouring bleach into his coffee.
Melody Felicano Johnson, 39, has also been charged with aggravated assault and adding harmful substances to food/drink/medicine. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on a $250,000 bond, KOLD reports.
The victim, who has not been identified, said he first a bad taste in his coffee when he was stationed in Germany. He said he eventually tested the water in their house with pool testing strips and found no problems, but when he tested the coffee pot, it showed high levels of chlorine, court documents say.
In May, he installed cameras saw Johnson put something in the coffee pot. At that point he stopped drinking the coffee but pretended to do so. He said he didn’t report the incident to law enforcement because he was about to be transferred back to the United States and didn’t want to start proceedings while still in Germany.
The airman and his wife returned to the United States on June 28 and were put into a hotel at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, where he was station. He reinstalled cameras and again caught his wife pouring something into the coffee pot. But when he filed a report with police, they said the video was too unclear and did not follow up.
The man bought another camera, which was disguised as a fire alarm, and attached it to the ceiling. On July 7, the family was moved into permanent housing, and he installed cameras again.
On July 18, he took several videos to police, including at least one that court paperwork said showed Johnson pouring bleach into the coffee maker.
She was detained and immediate invoked her right to an attorney.
Police also said the coffee make smelled like bleach, and they found a small container of possible bleach in Johnson’s bathroom — the couple had separate bedrooms and bathrooms because they are going through a divorce.
Court documents say that prosecutors believe Johnson is a flight risk because she has family in the Philippines, where she is from, and recently bought a home there.
The documents also say that the victims believes his wife wanted to kill him to collect his benefits.
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[Featured image: Melody Felicano Johnson/Pima County Sheriff’s Office]