According to the Associated Press, a former Milwaukee firefighter served his wife a cup of Lexapro-laced tea this Halloween. The couple had been arguing over a bill, so the husband decided to make his wife an extra soothing cup of tea; believing an unadulterated earl grey just wasn't going to calm her down enough.
Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate) is a once a day medication for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, available by prescription only. It was unlikely to have had an immediate effect on the wife, as antidepressants generally are more effective when taken cumulatively, although perhaps this is a testament to the drug if the husband believes that it works so well? It was the firefighter's own prescription medication. The wife was completely unharmed by the tainted tea, and so was her three year old who also sipped from the cup. It was in fact the strange white substance around her child's mouth that put the woman's guard up. She questioned her husband, who admitted to slipping half a pill of Lexapro into the tea before giving it to her. A member of the Milwaukee police force herself, the woman called the authorities. The former firefighter was taken to the Milwaukee country jail on felony charges.
No longer is it the red wine in the crystal goblet. Tainted coffee, tainted tea, who knew a cup of coffee or tea wold be modern man's take on a poisoning vessel?