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Poisoning victim's family has unanswered questions
A Minnesota man was poisoned by his roommate, who is now charged. But the victim's family still has questions. FOX 9's Maury Glover has the latest.
BUFFALO, Minn. (FOX 9) - It was a medical mystery that turned into a murder investigation.
‘Devastation all over again’
What we know:
It's hard enough for Nickole O'Neill to know her daughter's father has passed away at the age of 33.
But learning he was intentionally poisoned is ever tougher to take.
"I knew somebody did something, but I didn't expect it to be so close," said O'Neill.
‘He wanted Cody to die’
The backstory:
Last week, prosecutors charged Stuart Hanmer with second-degree murder for allegedly poisoning his roommate, Cody Ernst, with thallium, a heavy metal that was once used to kill rodents until it was banned in the U.S. in the 70s.
O'Neill says she only heard Ernst talk about Hanmer once, after the two men got into an argument when Ernst moved into a sober house in St. Cloud.
"The only thing that I can recall is when he first moved up there, he said somebody was stealing snacks, Little Debbie snacks to be exact, out of his room and he said it was his roommate, Stuart. I think it got resolved and the next, you know, they enjoyed the coffee every morning together," said O'Neill.
Hanmer told investigators he hadn't heard of thallium poisoning at the time of his roommate's death, but investigators found a number of internet searches on Hanmer's phones about the heavy metal and its toxicity.
Prosecutors say he also bought thallium metal and oil from several different websites, which were delivered to a P.O. box registered in his name.
"It's tasteless, it's odorless, something like that should be extremely hard to get. It shouldn't be as simple as an internet purchase especially, when it's killing people and he used it for that intent," said O'Neill.
‘It’s heart-wrenching'
What they're saying:
O'Neill believes Hanmer should face tougher charges for Ernst's death because she believes it was premeditated, but she knows even a harsher sentence won't bring Ernst back.
"That was my friend and him not being here, it's hard to accept," said O'Neill.