Doctor injects mother's long-time partner with poison while under disguise amid inheritance dispute
A British doctor admitted to injecting his mother's long-time partner with poison while wearing a disguise amid an inheritance dispute.
Outlets like BBC and CBS News reported that Thomas Kwan gave Patrick O'Hara a toxin that caused a "rare and life-threatening flesh-eating disease."
Prosecutors said Kwan went to "extraordinary lengths" by pretending to be a community nurse delivering COVID-19 booster shots and injected O'Hara with what's most likely a pesticide in January.
Kwan initially denied the actions but pled guilty to attempted murder later on after prosecutors laid out their case at Newcastle Crown Court in northeast England.
During the trial, Prosecutor Thomas Makepeace noted Kwan is a "respected and experienced" family doctor from Sunderland city, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) from Newcastle, who used his "encyclopedic knowledge" of poisons in his plot to kill O'Hara, a "potential impediment to Mr. Kwan inheriting his mother's estate upon her death," according to CBS.
BBC said that Kwan's mother, Jenny Leung, in her will stated that she's leaving her home in Newcastle to O'Hara, her partner of 20 years. He will only pass the home to her children upon his death.
Makepeace said Kwan devised an "audacious" plan that's "stranger than fiction."
That includes Kwan forging documents, using a vehicle with fake license plates, checking into a hotel with a fake name, and disguising himself with head-to-toe protective clothing, tinted glasses, and a surgical mask to visit the home that O'Hara shared with Leung.
The day after the injection, O'Hara was in pain and with a blistered arm. He went to the hospital and was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, resulting in his arm getting cut to stop the disease from spreading. He spent several weeks in intensive care.
BBC reported that Kwan had also installed spyware on Leung's computer so he could monitor her and O'Hara's activities and take their photos.
Kwan was identified through surveillance camera footage. Police also found in his home chemicals and toxins, including arsenic and liquid mercury, castor beans that are used to make ricin, and books and manuals on making and using poisons.
The court said Kwan had a "borderline obsession" with poison and how to kill people. He never revealed what poison he had used to his mother's partner.
Scientists said it was most likely a pesticide called iodomethane, as found in a syringe, though was never seen to be used on a human before.
The court said Kwan also had a backup plan and had created a letter from a fake charity offering O'Hara free drinks and meals, according to BBC.
Kwan will be sentenced on Oct. 17, with the judge saying he can expect a "substantial" term.
