In England, a doctor injected his mom's boyfriend with a toxic substance while wearing a disguise in an attempt to prevent the older man from inheriting property.
As CBS News reports, Sunderland, UK-based doctor Thomas Kwan has been found guilty after admitting to the complex murder plot, which involved him tricking his mom's partner into thinking he was giving him a COVID booster shot.
In January, the 53-year-old general practitioner went to great lengths to convince his mom's partner, 72-year-old Patrick O'Hara, that he was a nurse administering the vaccine. Besides using a wig and fake facial hair to obscure his identity, Kwan also sent falsified letters to his 70-something victim to lure him into getting the deadly jab.
Suspicions began to arise even before the disguised doctor administered the shot to the older man, with his mother, Jenny Leung, commenting that the "nurse" was the same height as her son.
Kwan reportedly fled soon after giving O'Hara the toxic shot. After being identified via security camera footage, Kwan was tracked back to his own abode where Northumbria police said they found arsenic, a "poisoner's handbook," and files on how to get away with murder by poisoning.
Though the exact toxin Kwan used remains unknown — because he refused to say what was in the shot he gave O'Hara — crown prosecutors said it was likely a pesticide of some sort. While the victim is lucky to be alive, CBS notes that he suffered major injuries from the shot that appeared to eat away at his flesh. He spent weeks in intensive care, and ultimately had to have parts of his arm removed.
As The Guardian reported, law enforcement was astounded by the amount of effort Kwan put into his conspiracy to prevent O'Hara from potentially inheriting his mother's house after she dies. It was, as those prosecutors described at trial, "one of the most elaborate criminal plots in recent memory."
Though he pleaded guilty to poisoning O'Hara, Kwan's refusal to name his poison resulted, as police claim, in the older man's health deteriorating while they rushed to find a cure for the unknown substance.
With his guilty plea in place, Kwan now awaits sentencing — and as the judge in his trial said, he can expect a "substantial" prison term for his despicable machinations.
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