Wyoming grad student faces potential life sentence over poisoned tea

A University of Wyoming graduate student now faces the possibility of up to 20 years to life in prison after prosecutors added an attempted second-degree murder charge to her case. The new court document, filed Thursday, expands the legal consequences for Aili Wang, 32, beyond the initial felony count of aggravated assault and battery.

Wang is accused of placing acrylamide, a neurotoxin, in the tea of a fellow graduate student identified in court records as K.T. Police began their investigation after the victim started experiencing symptoms. A chemistry professor analyzed water from the victim's coffee maker, which he used to prepare the tea, and confirmed the presence of acrylamide, according to a police affidavit.

The affidavit details that Wang, a microbiology student, used her university email address to purchase acrylamide on eBay twice during the summer. She later asked the online retailer to delete her order history and account. Surveillance footage from Sept. 27 shows Wang going through the victim's desk. The video also captures her taking photos, manipulating notebooks, and rinsing the victim's mug with liquid from her own.

Authorities arrested Wang on Oct. 6 at Los Angeles International Airport. Prosecutors alleged she was attempting to leave the country to return to China. Although Albany County Circuit Court Judge Robert Sanford initially set a $200,000 bond, he later granted a request to raise the amount to a cash-only requirement of $1.5 million.

Wang is scheduled to appear in court Monday for her preliminary hearing. The additional charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a sharp increase from the penalties associated with her original assault and battery charge.