A New York City woman has been convicted of poisoning her lookalike friend with drug-laced cheesecake to try to steal her identity.
Russian-born Viktoria Nasyrova, 47, was convicted of attempted murder and four of the five other charges against her by a jury in the city on Wednesday.
Nasyrova, who has been described in media reports as a former dominatrix, has been accused of drugging and killing another woman in Russia in 2014 before she fled to the US. She has denied those allegations.
Prosecutors told the court that Nasyrova went to Olga Svyk’s home in August 2016 with a “cold and calculated plan.”
“To isolate Olga Svyk, to get her alone in her room, to poison her, to try to kill her, and to take her identity,” said Queens Assistant District Attorney Konstantinos Litourgis.
Nasyrova took the cheesecake to Ms Svyk, an eyelash technician, to thank her for helping with an “eyelash emergency.”
The jury heard that the 35-year-old victim ate the cheesecake, quickly began to feel sick and was found unconscious in bed the following day by a friend.
And the court was told that pills had been left at the scene to make it appear that she had tried to kill herself.
When Ms Svyk left the hospital she returned home and found that her Ukrainian passport, other documents and a gold ring had been stolen.
When investigators tested the cheesecake they found that it contained Phenazepam, a Russian-made sedative that is not available in the US.
Nasyrova, who prosecutors say was known to NYPD over allegations she drugged and robbed men in Brooklyn she met on dating apps, faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced next month.
“The jury saw through the deception and schemes of the defendant,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
“She laced a slice of cheesecake with a deadly drug so she could steal her unsuspecting victim’s most valuable possession, her identity. Fortunately, her victim survived and the poison led right back to the culprit.”
“While we are disappointed with the jury’s verdict, we respect it and are exploring our options going forward,” defence attorney Christopher Hoyt said.
