More than seven months after a suspected poison attack at the Technical University of Darmstadt, investigators arrested a suspect. As announced by the public prosecutor’s office in Darmstadt and the police headquarters in southern Hesse, a 32-year-old woman from Mainz was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. At the request of the public prosecutor’s office, the district court in Darmstadt issued the placement order. The woman is charged with attempted murder while incapacitated.
The materials science student is said to have added “harmful substances” to various foods in August 2021. At that time, seven people had symptoms of poisoning, six of them had to be taken to a clinic with bluish hands and feet, and a 30-year-old student was in mortal danger for hours. The police found the substance in several places in the university building L201. At the time, it was said that she was in filter containers for tea water and opened milk tetrapaks that were in tea kitchens and meeting rooms.
According to the investigators, the woman appeared suspicious early on. But it was only after more than 1,000 witnesses were questioned that the suspicion was confirmed. The public prosecutor suspects that the motive for the attack was that the woman felt persecuted by employees of the technical university. There is a suspicion that the accused is not guilty due to a mental illness, it said. The student herself has not yet provided any information on the allegations.