VERDICT WATCH NY - Dr. Mary Yoder, 60, fatally poisoned, Whitesboro, 22 July 2015

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There's no mention of what the plea deal offers her. How much time in prison will she get? Will she do seven, ten, twenty years? Gee, there must be enough evidence to prove she poisoned her employer! Are there other reasons, other than a weak case, to offer a plea deal right off like this?

Does the victim's family have to agree or okay a plea deal to the person who killed their loved one?

MOO, I find this case extremely disturbing because this young woman, while accepted as a part of the family and worked closely with the doctor, was tampering with the finances of the business and then decided to poison a woman she described as being wonderful. It seems so devious and evil.
 
A very interesting plea offer, regardless of terms. To allow bargaining in a heinous crime like this must indicate a flawed case.
 
wfgodot said:
http://www.cnyhomepage.com/news/kaitlyn-conley-pre-trial

Terms this early? The case must be weak. Thoughts?
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http://www.wktv.com/news/crime/Bail...uoit_woman_accused_of_murdering_employer.html

In this article the prosecutor herself says the evidence is circumstantial...though she also says it is "overwhelming."

I wonder which "concerned relatives" contacted the police months after Dr. Yoder's death and what they said. Were they pointing fingers in a specific direction? Or just pushing for further inquiry into the cause of death. Speaking of which, at what point did they determine it was colchicine poisoning? One of the articles previously posted said it wasn't something doctors would routinely screen for--I would have thought that months after her death it might be difficult to check on this.
 
radiator said:
http://www.wktv.com/news/crime/Bail...uoit_woman_accused_of_murdering_employer.html

In this article the prosecutor herself says the evidence is circumstantial...though she also says it is "overwhelming."

I wonder which "concerned relatives" contacted the police months after Dr. Yoder's death and what they said. Were they pointing fingers in a specific direction? Or just pushing for further inquiry into the cause of death. Speaking of which, at what point did they determine it was colchicine poisoning? One of the articles previously posted said it wasn't something doctors would routinely screen for--I would have thought that months after her death it might be difficult to check on this.
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Maybe they found it through a hair test?
 
ZooSleuth said:
Maybe they found it through a hair test?
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I don't think the poison would show up in a hair test because it was believed to be only one fatal dose. She died quickly and unexpectedly. I'd guess a lot of lab tests were done at the time. Seems like once the family pushed for more answers and the RX was found for the colchicine more tests were run months later. I don't know if they had to exhume the body to test further. I feel sorry for her family having to deal with their suspicions, and the gf trying to frame the victim's son.

Conley is accused of poisoning Yoder, 60, with colchicine, a drug sometimes used to treat gout, he said. Deputies said she was given a single deadly dose.

http://www.newyorkupstate.com/utica/2016/06/23-year-old_accused_of_poisoni.html
Click to expand...
 
I'm guessing they can pin acquisition of the drug on her, but motive and especially connection to the act of administering the substance is weak.
 
The motive isn't so much a problem because we know this young lady tampered with the business finances and forged some checks. Her employer might have recently discovered this and lost her life before she could tell what this sneaky sneak had done. Of course, that is MOO, but before arriving at a motive they definitely have to prove she actually administered a poisonous dose to her boss.

I do agree that the weak part in this investigation, and an eventual conviction, may be the lack of evidence proving if and how the fatal dose of the drug was administered to the victim. From everything I've read on this case so far, they can prove she ordered and acquired the substance, but they don't seem to be able to prove how and if she administered the drug to the victim. (There's no evidence video showing her making the victim a lovely cup of tea.)

Oh-oh, this has me worried she'll wiggle out of this.
 
We know what she's been charged with doing, but not yet what she did.
 
wfgodot said:
syracuse.com:

Woman charged with poisoning boss rejects plea deal: "vehemently maintains innocence"
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Thanks. The word "vehemently" does cause me some hesitation. I wonder what they have as evidence to prove she actually administered the Colchicine to her boss.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index....s_plea_deal_vehemently_maintains_innocen.html

Conley's lawyer, Christopher Pelli, said his client turned down the offer to plead guilty to second-degree murder with a sentence of 17 years to life. Conley, 23, of Sauquoit "vehemently maintains her innocence," Pelli said.
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"A tentative trial date has been set for Oct. 17, Oneida County court officials said."
 
She ordered the drug, but never heard of the drug. Well, I'm just curious -- How's her attorney going to argue that she didn't order the drug? Then, coincidentally, her boss dies from that particular drug.

... Conley reportedly wrote a Letter of Intent in January 2015 to “ArtChemicals and/or Spectrum Chemicals” to purchase colchicine.

The Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Yoder’s cause of death was a result of colchicine toxicity, officials said. Colchicine is a drug used to treat gout. It has common side effects of diarrhea, nausea or vomiting and stomach pain.

In a court document obtained by the Observer-Dispatch through a Freedom of Information Act request from the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office, Conley reportedly “never heard” of colchicine and asked law enforcement to spell out the word when questioned in December 2015 by the Sheriff’s Office.

http://www.uticaod.com/news/20160718/poisoning-suspect-declines-plea-offer
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Interesting case. I haven't looked the drug up for toxic levels, but as an anti-inflammatory one would think it would take some sort of a whopping dose to kill a person. BUT if the woman was already taking the drug regularly for gout, she may have already had a high blood level of it. So then it would not take that much more to get up to a toxic level.

Ahh, but how do you get someone to ingest a lethal dose?
 
AlwaysShocked said:
Interesting case. I haven't looked the drug up for toxic levels, but as an anti-inflammatory one would think it would take some sort of a whopping dose to kill a person. BUT if the woman was already taking the drug regularly for gout, she may have already had a high blood level of it. So then it would not take that much more to get up to a toxic level.
Click to expand...

This is my area of expertise, so I may able to be of some help here :) I have a few other thoughts to add also, but need to find some linkable sources to support my ideas.

TOXICOKINETICS:

Colchicine is readily absorbed after oral administration, but undergoes extensive first-pass metabolism. It is widely distributed and binds to intracellular elements. Colchicine is primarily metabolized by the liver, undergoes significant enterohepatic re-circulation, and is also excreted by the kidneys. THERAPEUTIC AND TOXIC DOSES: The usual adult oral doses for FMF is 1.2-2.4 mg/day; in acute gout 1.2 mg/day and for gout prophylaxis 0.5-0.6 mg/day three to four times a week. High fatality rate was reported after acute ingestions exceeding 0.5 mg/kg. The lowest reported lethal doses of oral colchicine are 7-26 mg.
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bbm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20586571
 
Hmm...binds to intracellular elements and metabolized by the liver. I'm not sure if Dr. Yoder ever took the drug for a gout condition. I'm also not sure if they found it at the time of autopsy or later. I'll repost some news quotes below that I find interesting trying to put this all together.

Colchicine is commonly used to treat gout. Investigators say Conley obtained it legally, in purer form they referred to as, 'research grade'. They wouldn't say how they believe Conley administered the drug to Yoder.

http://www.wktv.com/news/Bail_set_a..._murdering_employer.html#sthash.BYxW0JF5.dpuf
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Conley is accused of poisoning Yoder, 60, with colchicine, a drug sometimes used to treat gout, he said. Deputies said she was given a single deadly dose.
http://www.newyorkupstate.com/utica/...f_poisoni.html
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Lisi added that Conley planned her boss's murder for 10 months, and that the 23-year-old tried to blame one of Yoder's own family members.

"It is also the people's position that the evidence will show that Kaitlyn Conley deliberately attempted to frame Mary Yoder's son, Adam Yoder, for this heinous crime."
http://www.wktv.com/news/crime/Bail_..._employer.html
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AlwaysShocked said:
Interesting case. I haven't looked the drug up for toxic levels, but as an anti-inflammatory one would think it would take some sort of a whopping dose to kill a person. BUT if the woman was already taking the drug regularly for gout, she may have already had a high blood level of it. So then it would not take that much more to get up to a toxic level.

Ahh, but how do you get someone to ingest a lethal dose?
Click to expand...

I'm envisioning KC baking some delicious chocolate brownies and bringing them into the office. In one of the brownies, she ... never mind.

Okay, so she made some delicious muffins and brought them into the office to have with their morning coffee.

In a bowl, she mixed the muffin batter. In a separate bowl, she spooned out enough batter for 1 muffin, setting it aside. Using a 6-muffin pan, she spooned the rest of the batter into 5 of the muffin cups, leaving the 6th one empty. She baked the 5 muffins.

Into the batter that was set aside, she stirred some crushed poison tablets. She baked this muffin, #6, separately, so as not to get it mixed up with the "good" ones. She placed them on a serving plate, in a pyramid formation, with the poisoned muffin by itself on the very top. She securely covered the muffins and plate with plastic wrap.
When she got to work, she offered her boss the first muffin off the top, and she took one of the remaining "poison-free" muffins.

Or, if she was afraid that the boss wouldn't pick the poison-laced muffin, maybe she just wrapped up the poisoned muffin, and another "good" muffin, in saran wrap, and pretended that she had bought them on the way to work. That way she could hand her boss the muffin she wanted her to eat. And if she didn't eat it right away, she would probably have eaten it later that morning.

To make a long story short, she could have introduced the poison:

1. Into baked goods.
2. Into a sandwich, such as chicken salad, that she picked up at lunchtime for her boss.
3. If the poison was tasteless, or not easily detected, she could have stirred some crushed tablets into her boss' coffee or tea.

(All of the above are just my ruminations.)
 
Utica Observer-Dispatch:

Conley defense: Victim's husband did it
The defense attorney representing a Sauquoit woman accused of fatally poisoning her
employer offered a new suspect in recently filed court documents: the victim's husband.

The rest at link above.
 
wfgodot said:
Utica Observer-Dispatch:

Conley defense: Victim's husband did it
The defense attorney representing a Sauquoit woman accused of fatally poisoning her
employer offered a new suspect in recently filed court documents: the victim's husband.

The rest at link above.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the latest on this case.

:fence: WOW, I say it's worth considering. Imagine if this young women is on trial and had nothing to do with her employer's death! Apparently, the husband began dating the victim's sister at some point, maybe before his wife died. Best to look into these allegations.

William Yoder's phone records, texts and GPS data from the time of his wife's death to present; and the same phone records from Kathleen Richmond, a sister of the victim, from Jan. 30, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2015.
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The defense contends that Dr. William Yoder poisoned his wife on or about July 20, 2015, and that he had not only the means and opportunity but the motive as well," Pelli wrote.
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:thinking: Hmm...The husband may have had gout and used colchicine.

In the motion, Pelli alleges that one of Mary Louise Yoder's patients claimed she overheard the victim say that her husband had gout during a medical visit on July 20, 2015, just two days before her death. It's something that could provide an alternate source of colchicine, the drug authorities believe was used to kill Yoder, Pelli argues in the document.
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"I just want to impress on everybody that Today is Jan. 10 and we're supposed to start this trial - we are going to start this trial - on Feb. 27 so we need to move quickly," he said.
Click to expand...

http://www.uticaod.com/news/20170110/conley-defense-victims-husband-did-it
 
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