(LibertySociety.com) – A 39-year-old woman was given three years of probation after she was caught pouring bleach into her husband’s coffee in July 2023.
Melody Felicano Johnson, now 40, of Tucson, Arizona, was originally charged with the attempted murder of her husband, airman Roby Johnson. She agreed to plead guilty to two lesser felony charges of poisoning food or drink, which could have landed her in prison for four years. However, the sentencing judge ultimately decided on probation and ordered her to comply with any recommended treatment following a mental health evaluation.
Part of the judge’s decision was based on Roby Johnson’s request that she not be sentenced to prison. At the time of the poisonings, they had already begun divorce proceedings, which likely included a custody arrangement for their child. Her lawyer also requested that the year she had spent in jail count toward time served. She was held on a $250,000 bond at the time because she had recently bought a house in the Philippines and was deemed a flight risk. Roby Johnson told police that he believed she planned to “kill him to collect death benefits.”
The couple was stationed in Germany in March 2023 when Roby Johnson noticed that his coffee had an odd flavor. Every night before bed, he set his coffee pot to brew the next morning. He bought pH strips to test the water, but the results were normal. He then decided to test his coffee, which revealed elevated chlorine levels. He pretended to drink the coffee until the couple returned to the United States.
Roby Johnson then secretly planted hidden cameras in the laundry room, above the coffee machine, and another that covered the area between the two other cameras. One of the cameras was disguised as a fire alarm. His fears were confirmed after he recorded his wife pouring bleach into a container and then pouring it into his coffee. In court, she only admitted to putting bleach in his coffee twice.
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