Janice
01-10-2003, 03:20 PM
This is just crazy.
Teen Charged in Poisoning Death
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (Jan. 10) - A teenager was charged Thursday with first-degree murder for allegedly killing a romantic rival by spiking his soda with cyanide.
Police said Ryan Furlough, 18, laced his friend's drink with the poison as they played video games in Furlough's basement in Ellicot City in suburban Baltimore.
Benjamin Vassiliev, 17, went into respiratory arrest last Friday after drinking the soda and died Wednesday.
Police found a letter in Vassiliev's house indicating Furlough was in love with Vassiliev's girlfriend, according to court documents. Furlough told police he had been thinking about killing Vassiliev since October, the documents show.
Furlough also faces reckless endangerment and poisoning charges, said police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn.
Police said Furlough bought the cyanide with his mother's credit card in November. The Louisville, Ky.-based chemical supplier that sold the poison, Antec Inc., said Furlough inquired about the chemical over the Internet, but placed the order by phone. He told the company he planned to use the substance to plate metal.
Furlough's parents, Susan and Tom Furlough, apologized in a statement issued Wednesday by their son's lawyer.
``We are so sorry for the pain and suffering our son Ryan has caused Ben and his family,'' the statement reads. ``Our hearts go out to all those individuals involved.''
01/10/03 10:53 EST
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Teen Charged in Poisoning Death
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (Jan. 10) - A teenager was charged Thursday with first-degree murder for allegedly killing a romantic rival by spiking his soda with cyanide.
Police said Ryan Furlough, 18, laced his friend's drink with the poison as they played video games in Furlough's basement in Ellicot City in suburban Baltimore.
Benjamin Vassiliev, 17, went into respiratory arrest last Friday after drinking the soda and died Wednesday.
Police found a letter in Vassiliev's house indicating Furlough was in love with Vassiliev's girlfriend, according to court documents. Furlough told police he had been thinking about killing Vassiliev since October, the documents show.
Furlough also faces reckless endangerment and poisoning charges, said police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn.
Police said Furlough bought the cyanide with his mother's credit card in November. The Louisville, Ky.-based chemical supplier that sold the poison, Antec Inc., said Furlough inquired about the chemical over the Internet, but placed the order by phone. He told the company he planned to use the substance to plate metal.
Furlough's parents, Susan and Tom Furlough, apologized in a statement issued Wednesday by their son's lawyer.
``We are so sorry for the pain and suffering our son Ryan has caused Ben and his family,'' the statement reads. ``Our hearts go out to all those individuals involved.''
01/10/03 10:53 EST
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.