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
revealed their product contained arsenic. he told me that two of those hand stacks, which would contain four tins, would be enough to be fatally toxic to a 150-pound man. investigators found this brand of insecticide in a store not far from the pignataros home. you don t want to believe it. you don t want to believe that someone you loved and lived with could actually do this to you. there s no, there s no answer. i don t know. a check into tony s background provided a possible motive. he became associated with a few cons in prison and was able to get involved with heroin. and he kept in contact with one particular person who would supply him with his narcotics after he got released from prison. and investigators discovered tony was having an affair with
intentionally poisoned herself. it made me very angry. i mean, if anybody knew me, they would know that i would never do this to myself. i mean, first of all, i wouldn t do it to my children. second of all, it s just, if i wanted to hurt myself, i wouldn t do it this slow, torturous, painful way. tony suspected sarah smith s family may have had something to do with the poisoning. sarah smith was tony s patient who had died during surgery. anthony thought that dan smith was trying to get even with him for taking his wife away from him, and he thought enough to say, well, maybe dan was trying to take my wife away from me. investigators searched for arsenic throughout the pignataros home. we searched the house from top to bottom looking for arsenic, pesticides and insecticides, anything that may contain arsenic.
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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