MA-Roxanne Doucette, accused of trying to poison her husband, Paul Doucette, 73, to win over fake soap opera star, Townsend, December 2023

[SMK777]

Would the hospital necessarily have checked for antifreeze, those toxic eye drops, or something else along those lines?

I'm going to argue that if she did put something in his soup, you can't just blame dementia/legal insanity, because she fought with the officers when she realized they were going to access the evidence. That could show she knew it was wrong, etc. JMO.

When scammers take money from lonely/gullible people, it's a true scam and terrible crime, but if the victim then goes along with harming someone, the guilt crosses to them.

Of course she should be given a full neurological and psychological exam.

True, she had reason to resist the seizure of her phone and iPad because she knew those incriminating texts were in there, and that does show conscious awareness.

And items such as you mention which can be used as poison may not have been tested for. Is it too late now? Evidence determining poisoning is necessary to proceed with prosecution, I would assume.

Because as stated earlier she may have been only playing along for the entertainment of the internet guy. Or can say she was.

 

[ch_13]

Would the hospital necessarily have checked for antifreeze, those toxic eye drops, or something else along those lines?

I'm going to argue that if she did put something in his soup, you can't just blame dementia/legal insanity, because she fought with the officers when she realized they were going to access the evidence. That could show she knew it was wrong, etc. JMO.

When scammers take money from lonely/gullible people, it's a true scam and terrible crime, but if the victim then goes along with harming someone, the guilt crosses to them.

Of course she should be given a full neurological and psychological exam.

I'm sure they took blood and other samples, so they should be able to keep testing until they find out until they find out what, if anything, was in the soup. The articles made it sound like they only tested for alcohol, cocaine, etc. But those substances all have instant tests. For many other substances it can take days or weeks for the lab work to be completed. So, I wouldn't assume that they haven't tested for anything else, just that they don't have the results back.

One thought that occurred to me...If he was taking something for his heart condition, she could have put it in the soup. Many of those medications are deadly if taken in large doses.

 

[mewmew]

Oof, how terrible and also embarrassing. My sisters mother in law fell for one of these scams as well. It was terribly sad. She is a lonely widow who is disabled after having a stroke, and someone contacted her on Facebook claiming to be a wealthy pilot who was “down on his luck” and just needed a few thousand dollars to get his plane repaired, then he could fly her out to come live with him and he would take care of her for the rest of her life. RIGHT. But she was lonely and sad and enjoyed having someone to talk to who made her feel loved and beautiful, so she eventually sent him upwards of $8,000. Her daughter filed police reports but they never were able to track the guy down. What’s worse is, her mom STILL doesn’t believe it was a scam — she believes her daughter is just trying to ruin her life by taking away “the best thing that ever happened to her”.

Obviously this story is a bit different than my sisters mother in law, but it’s still horribly sad to see these scammers preying on the elderly and those who maybe don’t have their full wits about them (not saying this woman doesn’t, but it’s a possibility).

Very sad for her husband and their family.

All JMO

 

[SMK777]

I'm sure they took blood and other samples, so they should be able to keep testing until they find out until they find out what, if anything, was in the soup. The articles made it sound like they only tested for alcohol, cocaine, etc. But those substances all have instant tests. For many other substances it can take days or weeks for the lab work to be completed. So, I wouldn't assume that they haven't tested for anything else, just that they don't have the results back.

One thought that occurred to me...If he was taking something for his heart condition, she could have put it in the soup. Many of those medications are deadly if taken in large doses.

And the higher dosage would be seen in the test results, correct?

And they can still test the blood samples at the hospital, which I assume were saved? Just in case they really hadn’t tested for anything other than opiates, alcohol, etc……

 

[SMK777]

Oof, how terrible and also embarrassing. My sisters mother in law fell for one of these scams as well. It was terribly sad. She is a lonely widow who is disabled after having a stroke, and someone contacted her on Facebook claiming to be a wealthy pilot who was “down on his luck” and just needed a few thousand dollars to get his plane repaired, then he could fly her out to come live with him and he would take care of her for the rest of her life. RIGHT. But she was lonely and sad and enjoyed having someone to talk to who made her feel loved and beautiful, so she eventually sent him upwards of $8,000. Her daughter filed police reports but they never were able to track the guy down. What’s worse is, her mom STILL doesn’t believe it was a scam — she believes her daughter is just trying to ruin her life by taking away “the best thing that ever happened to her”.

Obviously this story is a bit different than my sisters mother in law, but it’s still horribly sad to see these scammers preying on the elderly and those who maybe don’t have their full wits about them (not saying this woman doesn’t, but it’s a possibility).

Very sad for her husband and their family.

All JMO

Oh, that is extremely sad about your sister’s mother-in-law. Wow And obviously she wasn’t willing to give up those wonderful feelings in order to face reality. Very sad, but understandable if a person is alone and aging.

Yes, the whole thing is predatory and criminal, and apparently it’s not that simple to trace and arrest these people.

 

[ch_13]

And the higher dosage would be seen in the test results, correct?

And they can still test the blood samples at the hospital, which I assume were saved? Just in case they really hadn’t tested for anything other than opiates, alcohol, etc……

It does seem like the doctors were notified that this was a potential poisoning case pretty early on, so I would assume they would be very diligent in preserving evidence.

As for the medication overdose, I'm not sure if the higher dosage would be testable. I guess it would depend on how fast it breaks down in the bloodstream.

It's possible that they pumped his stomach and have the stomach contents. Or at least have his feces and vomit. Those would also be vital clues. Also, I wonder if the police were able to collect any leftover soup before she disposed of it?

 

[SMK777]

It does seem like the doctors were notified that this was a potential poisoning case pretty early on, so I would assume they would be very diligent in preserving evidence.

As for as the medication overdose, I'm not sure if the higher dosage would be testable. I guess it would depend on how fast it breaks down in the bloodstream.

It's possible that they pumped his stomach and have the stomach contents. Or at least have his feces and vomit. Those would also be vital clues. Also, I wonder if the police were able to collect any leftover soup before she disposed of it?

Yes, if the daughter notified them early enough, they would test the soup definitely. But hadn’t she said she’d only made enough for him? They would likely test the bowl, pan as well.

I presume this is what they mean they’re doing when they say that “police and Middlesex County DA’s office are investigating to determine if there will be further charges “.

 

[ch_13]

Yes, if the daughter notified them early enough, they would test the soup definitely. But hadn’t she said she’d only made enough for him? They would likely test the bowl, pan as well.

In one of her media interviews, she claims that the couple cooked the soup together. But they only made enough for him? Hmm.

And even if they did really prepare it together, that doesn't mean much. With most recipes you have to let the soup simmer for 30+ minutes. It would be easy to steal into the kitchen while it's bubbling away on the stovetop and add an extra "flavoring" in secret.

 

[SMK777]

In one of her media interviews, she claims that the couple cooked the soup together. But they only made enough for him? Hmm.

And even if they did really prepare it together, that doesn't mean much. With most recipes you have to let the soup simmer for 30+ minutes. It would be easy to steal into the kitchen while it's bubbling away on the stovetop and add an extra "flavoring" in secret.

Yeah, all true.
The fact that they initially made it together means nothing.

She claimed they made the soup together for Thanksgiving. If she stored some in the freezer she could have taken out just one serving, which could be what she meant by “just enough for him”.

It would only take one easy step to poison one serving of soup.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I think I want to believe she just got caught up in the fantasy and she just has terrible luck that the comments coincide to the illness he suffered. It makes no practical difference since her life is toast either way.

Complete blood and any other chemical analysis will takes weeks to months. We might not hear anything for a long time.

Giving LE the benefit of the doubt that they collected the right things to test as others have mentioned above. What might she have had on hand to poison him with, what recent purchases did she make?

To me this story is just very sad. She likely would not have done this (assuming she did) had this scammer not approached her. I feel like the scammer should also be charged with attempted murder.

 

[SMK777]

think I want to believe she just got caught up in the fantasy and she just has terrible luck that the comments coincide to the illness he suffered. It makes no practical difference since her life is toast either way.

I guess it makes a practical difference if she’s not charged with attempted murder, because she can stay home rather than go to prison. And if she’s lucky, she could get some psychological and neurological tests and help, and convince husband and daughter to forgive her.

To me this story is just very sad. She likely would not have done this (assuming she did) had this scammer not approached her. I feel like the scammer should also be charged with attempted murder.

Agree fully. She would not have done this on her own.
And he took $8,000 from her.
It’s unconscionable.

 

[tlcya]

Townsend Police Chief James Sartell is urging against any rush to judgment in the case.

“I just tell everybody to just kind of take a step back, take a deep breath, think things through before you spread things or before you think you know what’s going on. Sometimes it’s a little bit more complex than it seems,” Sartell said.

A limited toxicology test on Paul Doucette came back negative.
Woman accused of trying to poison her husband to win over fake soap opera star

I believe the accused is 64. While that is young for dementia, or other neurological problems of the sort, it is not unheard of. I wonder if daughter was suspicious because mom has a recent history of being scammed or engaging in activities that are not within her normal range of behaviors.

 

[SMK777]

Townsend Police Chief James Sartell is urging against any rush to judgment in the case.

“I just tell everybody to just kind of take a step back, take a deep breath, think things through before you spread things or before you think you know what’s going on. Sometimes it’s a little bit more complex than it seems,” Sartell said.

A limited toxicology test on Paul Doucette came back negative.
Woman accused of trying to poison her husband to win over fake soap opera star

I believe the accused is 64. While that is young for dementia, or other neurological problems of the sort, it is not unheard of. I wonder if daughter was suspicious because mom has a recent history of being scammed or engaging in activities that are not within her normal range of behaviors.

Yes, I too thought it was relatively young for dementia, but it depends on your genetic background.

I thought that either the daughter was as you say already on the lookout for impulsive behavior or that the mom had somehow let it slip that she’d given someone $8,000.00.

 

[RickshawFan]

Would the hospital necessarily have checked for antifreeze, those toxic eye drops, or something else along those lines?

I'm going to argue that if she did put something in his soup, you can't just blame dementia/legal insanity, because she fought with the officers when she realized they were going to access the evidence. That could show she knew it was wrong, etc. JMO.

When scammers take money from lonely/gullible people, it's a true scam and terrible crime, but if the victim then goes along with harming someone, the guilt crosses to them.

Of course she should be given a full neurological and psychological exam.

It would be exactly within the scope of dementia to fight police officers, sometimes for zero reason. Nothing to do with consciousness of guilt. My experience.

As for not wanting people to take your ipad or phone? Isn’t that normal? Besides, people whose minds have gone gappy, can suddenly become less gappy in weird ways. They can also become super paranoid (you might, too, if you couldn’t remember what transpired moments before). Assuming someone has mental clarity because they have flashes of their old selves (or even an enhanced version of their old selves) would be a poor assumption.

To me, RD sounds not connected when she’s at the front door.

The daughter was clued in to look at her mom’s phone because mom had previously sent thousands to someone on the internet? This is a red flag that her mom wasn’t thinking straight IMO.

I’m with LE on this one: it’s a lot more complicated than a garden-variety “woman makes soup and poisons her husband”. IMO

FWIW I had a friend get Alzheimer’s in her 50’s. She got nightmarishly argumentative for no reason. And then there was Pat Summitt, legendary U of Tenn women’s basketball coach….

 

[RickshawFan]

Yeah, all true.
The fact that they initially made it together means nothing.

She claimed they made the soup together for Thanksgiving. If she stored some in the freezer she could have taken out just one serving, which could be what she meant by “just enough for him”.

It would only take one easy step to poison one serving of soup.

The “just enough for him” remark was one of the phrases that stuck out to me as maybe the product of dementia. Very logical, but some kind of crazy logic. Totally thought through, but nonsensical. And it sounds like a repeat phrase from a child’s version of a Grimm’s fairy tale, like something a witch would say.

Same with the “we made it together” phrase. Although it’s offered as evidence (i.e.something logical), as you say, @SMK777 , it means squat.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

It would be exactly within the scope of dementia to fight police officers, sometimes for zero reason. Nothing to do with consciousness of guilt. My experience.

Thanks for the perspective and making me think it through further.

 

[RickshawFan]

I wonder what the husband has been saying all this time?

 

[SMK777]

I wonder what the husband has been saying all this time?

Yes, I believe he or law enforcement placed some kind of restraining order on her where she cannot communicate.

 

[musicaljoke]

Withholding judgement on this one for now until the toxicology. She certainly is the victim of a scam, yet to be seen if she is a murderess.

While some reports imply those messages were in the same conversation, they may not be.

In some reports these messages seem far less incriminating.


According to police documents, a message from "Thorsten" on Dec. 1 stated: "You have to get rid of your husband honey. I need you so much," to which Roxanne Doucette replied she needed to do some thinking.

Later that day, at 2:34 p.m., police documents say Roxanne Doucette responded, "Making an amazing soup. Special potion. He will be hungry when he gets back. Just enough for him."


At 4:26 p.m., Roxanne Doucette says, "Hubby got back not feeling well. Maybe I can collect life insurance," according to police documents.

‘I’m a wonderful cook:’ Woman accused of poisoning husband at urging of bogus soap star

A Massachusetts woman is facing an attempted murder charge after investigators claim she tried to kill her husband at the urging of a person claiming to be a soap opera star.

www.wcvb.com

Well ... I guess she can't claim that her husband ate some old soup.

 

[SMK777]

Well ... I guess she can't claim that her husband ate some old soup.

Right, she’s under county DA investigation for a reason. Probably as in the Australian mushroom poisoning case, this will go dark until suddenly an announcement of charges, or no charges, if that is the case.