Singaporean student accused of poisoning Stanford University classmates

[webfact]

S'pore student charged with poisoning classmates
Joyce Lim
The Straits Times


Ouyang Xiangyu

SINGAPORE: -- An A*Star scholarship holder who was doing cancer research at one of America's top universities has been accused of trying to poison her laboratory mates using a toxic chemical.

Singaporean Ouyang Xiangyu, 27, now faces a trial in California after being charged with four counts of poisoning the drinking water of classmates at her graduate studies lab in Stanford University last year.

Currently out on US$50,000 bail but not allowed to leave the country, she is expected to plead not guilty due to insanity.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) told The Straits Times yesterday that it was "deeply concerned" over the incident. "There will be no action on our part until after the proceedings have concluded," a spokesman said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Spore-student-charged-with-poisoning-classmates-30257264.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-02

[lust]

Why would you grant bail to someone who is being charged with attempted murder and is claiming to be insane..

[zaphod reborn]

Disturbing story. It does sound like the insanity defense might apply. Bail probably is justified as long as she can't leave the jurisdiction. She needs treatment now, not jail.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2015/04/01/stanford-graduate-student-accused-of-poisoning-lab-mates

[lust]

Ah, that link explains much more!

[Seastallion]

Disturbing story. It does sound like the insanity defense might apply. Bail probably is justified as long as she can't leave the jurisdiction. She needs treatment now, not jail.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2015/04/01/stanford-graduate-student-accused-of-poisoning-lab-mates

How do you get that it "sounds like the insanity defense might apply"?

Unless you have further information that the report does not mention?

[lust]

Makes me think of this.

Edited April 2, 2015 by lust

[Credo]

The insanity defense will be hard to prove in this case. She was jealous and envious. These are very human emotions that most of us learn to deal with. She didn't. As is often the case in Asia, a little less time with a nose in a book and a little more learning about life and how it works would have done this bright, young lady a world of good.

[sdanielmcev]

I don't condone her actions, but feel sad for this girl.

[bitcoinbob]

dont feel sad for her it is pure evil. She was jealous and envious and did not know how to cope. so kill the competition pure and simple solution for her way of thinking.

[lgking]

Nobody has ever been 'cured' from a mental illness.

You would have better luck trying to 'cure' Gays into becoming 'straight'. It isn't going to work. People are who they are. And if a person steps outside the boundries of what is acceptable to a society, they've crossed the line.

Lock her up.

Edited April 3, 2015 by lgking

[Thakkar]

Nobody has ever been 'cured' from a mental illness.

You would have better luck trying to 'cure' Gays into becoming 'straight'. It isn't going to work. People are who they are. And if a person steps outside the boundries of what is acceptable to a society, they've crossed the line.

Lock her up.

I don't hinkt "gayness" is anything like mental illness. It's like saying having a limp is like being blond.

T

[nahkit]

Disturbing story. It does sound like the insanity defense might apply. Bail probably is justified as long as she can't leave the jurisdiction. She needs treatment now, not jail.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2015/04/01/stanford-graduate-student-accused-of-poisoning-lab-mates

How do you get that it "sounds like the insanity defense might apply"?

Unless you have further information that the report does not mention?

Did you click on the link that zaphod reborn attached?

"Prior to adding paraformaldehyde to the bottles, she had started putting dish-washing liquid in her own water at home and drinking it. She progressed to spiking her water with random chemicals she found at the lab, she told police."

"She had insomnia and dizziness and felt a disconnection from reality starting in September, she told police"

"The student was under the treatment of a psychiatrist and was being treated with antidepressants,"

"The DA was concerned about the mental state of the student."

Edited April 3, 2015 by nahkit

[timmyp]

This is one of those stories that has no influence on the world and doesn't affect my life in any way whatsover, but yet, I am curious to know more. What a freaky incident.

There's a common joke in Japan about secretaries putting harmful cleaners into the boss' coffee. Actually, the joke is that when he's being a jerk, the secretary washes the cup with really strong chemicals, then only partially rinses it out. It's a joke made by the secretaries on how to get back at the boss.
I've never heard of someone actually carrything this out, but when evil secretaries who hated my guts offered to bring me tea or coffee, I always declined...

[Ulic]

She looks more like 12 than 27.

[maidee]

"paraformaldehyde"

well boys & girls

if you drink cola with aspartaam or anything with aspartaam

it is converted into the body to formaldehyde ....

so you guys would not mind or not taste or see the difference anyway

[partington]

"paraformaldehyde"

well boys & girls

if you drink cola with aspartaam or anything with aspartaam

it is converted into the body to formaldehyde ....

so you guys would not mind or not taste or see the difference anyway

This is falsely alarmist information. Clearly the poster has no real knowledge of normal human biochemistry, and is a bit too gullible.

Aspartame is a mixture of two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine: your body is full of these because they are two of the 20 amino acids your body uses to make the proteins that you are constructed from. Phenylalanine is in fact called an 'essential' amino acid, because your body needs it but cannot make it, so it is essential for health that you eat some!

It is true that the metabolism of aspartame produces phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and a tiny amount of methanol as a brief intermediate. Many of your body's other normal chemical reactions ALSO produce small amounts of methanol, and this is turned into carbon dioxide and water by enzymes which convert the methanol into formaldehyde, then formic acid, then almost instantly into carbon dioxide and water. They are converted so fast because the body contains protein molecules called enzymes which are designed precisely to do this conversion, which is therefore completely normal.

Methanol at these small quantities and present for such a short time is completely harmless (even though if you drank a pint glass of methanol you would die). Many natural fresh fruits and vegetables, like apples, carrots and tomatoes produce far more natural methanol than aspartame when you eat them, and this is converted to carbon dioxide and water by conversion to formaldehyde, formic acid, and then carbon dioxide and water in just the same way, with no harmful effects.

This is all verifiable by consulting any biochemistry textbook, and enlarged on here, with some information how the internet hoax about aspartame arose:

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/are-artificial-sweeteners-safe/

Edited April 4, 2015 by partington