Police: Pa. woman slowly poisoned boyfriend with Visine eyedrops over three years

A Fulton County woman has been arrested for allegations that she slowly poisoned her boyfriend by putting Visine eyedrops in his drinking water over the past three years, according to a report from The Record Herald.

Vickie Jo Mills, 33, of McConnellsburg, allegedly tricked her boyfriend of several years and the father of her child, 45-year-old Thurman Edgar Nesbitt III, into drinking the drops up to 12 times since 2009.

Police were alerted to the scheme when Nesbitt’s doctor, Dr. Harry Johnson, told troopers on July 17 that he had been for years treating Nesbitt for various severe symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and breathing problems, that he suspected were caused by someone putting Visine in his patient’s water.

Ingesting large amounts of the drops’ active ingredient, the decongestant Tetrahydrozoline, can cause blurred vision, respiratory failure and seizures. Nesbitt agreed to have blood drawn at police barracks to test for the drug and the results showed “extremely high” levels were present, according to the report.

Mills allegedly on Thursday admitted to putting Visine in Nesbitt’s water 10 to 12 times since 2009, saying that she “never meant to kill him, only wanted him to pay more attention to her,” according to an affidavit obtained by the paper.

Mills was arrested and charged with aggravated
assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment and remains in Franklin County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bond. Her preliminary hearing is set for tomorrow afternoon.