Post by Barnaby Cuthbert on Dec 12, 2015 4:44:58 GMT -8
Killer Reveals Poisoning Over Power Boost Tonic Max Rivalry
by Patricia Barnes, Seattle Herald
An Seattle area woman and a homeless bystander were poisoned to death last week, after a bitter rivalry over the rights to the locally popular energy drink Power Boost Tonic Max, and in a shocking turn of events, the culprits turned themselves in to the authorities. The murders took place in the Crown Hill neighborhood of Seattle, where the grisly scene was discovered by passerby the following morning.
911 tapes last Saturday however recorded NiteAid pharmacist Samuel Nemes admitting to a conspiracy to murder local business owner Jiyae Chen. Mrs. Chen's remains would later be found in an alley near one of her local businesses, ChenChem, a mere mile and a half from her bread and butter, the family owned Stop & Grab mini-mart.
The plot thickened when police reported picking up Nemes's accomplice at ChenChem, Nicholas Rogers, a chemist that Mrs. Chen had apparently hired to steal Nemes' formula and illegally reverse engineer the popular local organic energy drink. Investigators at ChenChem reported that both Chen and Rogers had been buying the Power Boost Tonic Max drinks in bulk from Nemes cutting and diluting them with sugar and water, and re-packaging and re-selling the diluted products as the originals, but for a higher cost.
Police say that Nemes found out about this and hatched a plan to get revenge. The pharmacist bought out the chemist working for Chen, promising the exclude Chen from their joint business, and Nemes had Rogers deliver a 'special new formula' of the energy drink as an olive branch between the two of them. The county coroner confirmed that Chen drank the new formula and was killed within minutes when a lethal dose of arsenic was ingested. A homeless man then found the remaining drink, and perhaps thinking it was alcohol or some other kind of drug, ingested it, and died as well.
Both Nemes and Rogers are in police custody, and neither are expected to escape prison, though a trial date has not yet been set. Murder and conspiracy to murder charges have been set, however. Investigators are still unsure as to what caused Nemes' sudden bout of conscience. With no immediate family, both the Stop & Grab and ChenChem's fate are likely sealed. Said one former Stop & Grab employee:
"Mrs. Chen was kind of a dragon-lady, and she was like, a strict boss, but even if she was into some shady stuff, dude, death by poisoning? That's pretty harsh. Boost Tonic didn't even taste that bad. I guess now I have to find new job, and a new energy drink, and a new boss."
by Patricia Barnes, Seattle Herald
An Seattle area woman and a homeless bystander were poisoned to death last week, after a bitter rivalry over the rights to the locally popular energy drink Power Boost Tonic Max, and in a shocking turn of events, the culprits turned themselves in to the authorities. The murders took place in the Crown Hill neighborhood of Seattle, where the grisly scene was discovered by passerby the following morning.
911 tapes last Saturday however recorded NiteAid pharmacist Samuel Nemes admitting to a conspiracy to murder local business owner Jiyae Chen. Mrs. Chen's remains would later be found in an alley near one of her local businesses, ChenChem, a mere mile and a half from her bread and butter, the family owned Stop & Grab mini-mart.
The plot thickened when police reported picking up Nemes's accomplice at ChenChem, Nicholas Rogers, a chemist that Mrs. Chen had apparently hired to steal Nemes' formula and illegally reverse engineer the popular local organic energy drink. Investigators at ChenChem reported that both Chen and Rogers had been buying the Power Boost Tonic Max drinks in bulk from Nemes cutting and diluting them with sugar and water, and re-packaging and re-selling the diluted products as the originals, but for a higher cost.
Police say that Nemes found out about this and hatched a plan to get revenge. The pharmacist bought out the chemist working for Chen, promising the exclude Chen from their joint business, and Nemes had Rogers deliver a 'special new formula' of the energy drink as an olive branch between the two of them. The county coroner confirmed that Chen drank the new formula and was killed within minutes when a lethal dose of arsenic was ingested. A homeless man then found the remaining drink, and perhaps thinking it was alcohol or some other kind of drug, ingested it, and died as well.
Both Nemes and Rogers are in police custody, and neither are expected to escape prison, though a trial date has not yet been set. Murder and conspiracy to murder charges have been set, however. Investigators are still unsure as to what caused Nemes' sudden bout of conscience. With no immediate family, both the Stop & Grab and ChenChem's fate are likely sealed. Said one former Stop & Grab employee:
"Mrs. Chen was kind of a dragon-lady, and she was like, a strict boss, but even if she was into some shady stuff, dude, death by poisoning? That's pretty harsh. Boost Tonic didn't even taste that bad. I guess now I have to find new job, and a new energy drink, and a new boss."