An Arizona woman has pleaded guilty to poisoning her Air Force husband by pouring bleach into his coffee – after her spouse caught her in the act via hidden cameras he had set up in their home.
Melody Felicano Johnson, 40, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of poisoning food or drink for the brazen acts where she put trace amounts of bleach into husband Roby Johnson’s coffee maker on July 11 and July 18, 2023, 13 News reports.
Roby Johnson said he believed his wife was trying to kill him to collect death benefits, according to court documents.
She faces up to four years in prison with each charge being a class six felony with sentence ranges of four months to two years, the outlet reports.
Johnson will be sentenced on May 10 and could potentially be released for time served. Prosecutors are recommending she serve two years in prison.
She was initially arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and adding harmful substances to food, drink or medicine but agreed to a plea deal instead. She is currently being held on a $250,000 bond, according to the Pime County Sheriff’s Office.
The couple have a child together and were going through a divorce during the times she tried to poison her husband, court documents show.
Roby began to notice his coffee tasted odd while he was drinking a cup in March 2023 when the family was stationed in Germany. He drank the coffee for two or three weeks before purchasing pool testing strips to determine what was wrong with it.
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Coffee being poured into a cup surrounded by coffee beans. (iStock)
First, he tested the tap water, which came back normal, but after conducting the test on his coffee, he discovered the drink contained high levels of chlorine.
He stated she knew that he would prep his coffee pot to be ready at night so that in the morning he just needed to turn it on to make his coffee.
Roby pretended to drink the coffee while stationed in Germany and waited until the family moved back to Tucson, Arizona, last summer to alert authorities because he did not want to report his findings in Europe, the court documents state.
When the family returned to the U.S. in late June, Roby set up a camera inside their temporary housing near Davis Monthan Air Force Base to observe his wife’s behavior – and the camera allegedly captured Melody pouring bleach into his coffee.
On July 6, he filed a report with the Tucson Police Department, but police did not follow up because the video did not clearly show what liquid his wife was pouring into his drink, prompting Roby to set up a second camera disguised as a fire alarm.
Tuscon Police vehicle (Tucscon Police)
After the family moved into their permanent home on July 7, Roby reinstalled the cameras in that residence.
Roby returned to the police department on July 18 to provide additional video evidence, and the new footage allegedly showed his wife pouring bleach into the coffee machine before brewing. Johnson was then detained.
Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.