when debbie pignataro was diagnosed with arsenic poisoning, doctors also tested her husband, tony, and their two children. their daughter had higher than normal levels of arsenic in her system, but her son and husband were normal. well, our first thoughts were we needed to look at the source of water for that area of west seneca. prior to 1900, arsenic was the primary ingredient in embalming fluid and had caused groundwater contamination near several older cemeteries. tests showed no such problem in the water supply near the pignataros home. investigators began to suspect that debbie may have
i can t believe i gave her so much and she s still here. i think he just got panicky, and it wasn t working, so i think that s when he just figured, i m just going to give her a massive dose and be over with. apparently, his daughter s ingestion of the arsenic was unintentional. investigators believe tony vandalized his own home to make debbie s illness appear to be retaliation for sarah smith s death. when i asked tony if he tried to kill his wife, he looked down at the table and told me, i can understand why some people might think that. but he never said yes and he never said no. when faced with the scientific evidence, tony pignataro confessed. he pled guilty to attempted first-degree assault and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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together, so we were all puzzled. tony thought debbie s gallbladder should have been surgically removed, but her doctors disagreed. i was so weak and my condition was so grave that i probably would have died on the table, i was told. but she got better. and when she got better we relaxed and thought, well, this isn t going to happen again. but debbie s symptoms returned again and again. the pain was getting worse. even more disturbing, her daughter started to experience the same symptoms but not nearly as severe. throughout that summer, debbie s condition deteriorated. she had severe memory loss and was relegated to a wheelchair because she was no longer able to walk. once again, she was admitted to the hospital. this time, dr. snyderman analyzed a sample of debbie s bone marrow under a microscope. i looked once, i looked
the couple reconciled in may, and in debbie s hair grown that month were the first signs of arsenic poisoning. the largest dose of arsenic was administered in july. this coincided with debbie s hospital visit in which tony recommended removing his wife s gallbladder, a procedure medical experts say debbie would not have survived. when questioned by police, the couple s daughter, lauren, remembered something. around this time, she saw her father setting small traps around their home. when we asked her, can you tell us what that bait was, she said she didn t know what it was, except for it was little, round tins that he set out on the floor. only one manufacturer made insect repellent in small, round tins. the president of the company