A Chinese graduate student in the United States allegedly poisoned a Vietnamese classmate: What do the university and the victim’s family say?

The family of a Vietnamese graduate student at the University of Wyoming in the United States said that after the nerve agent was found in the office coffee machine, the victim still suffers from health problems such as fatigue, loss of appetite and poor sleep.

The University of Wyoming said a graduate student at the school was charged with felony aggravated assault and battery after allegedly using a substance to injure a fellow lab colleague.

Aili Wang (transliteration), a 32-year-old Chinese female graduate student majoring in microbiology, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on October 6. She was trying to leave the United States after being investigated for allegedly poisoning a Vietnamese colleague.

Wang Aili was accused of purchasing the chemical acrylamide through eBay twice in the middle of this year, and later asked the platform to delete her account.

Later, she was suspected of mixing the above-mentioned neurotoxin into the coffee machine of a Vietnamese graduate student. The graduate student is identified in court documents as "K.T."

When law enforcement officers arrested her at Los Angeles International Airport, they seized her laptop, electronic storage devices and handwritten documents.

According to court documents, when questioned by campus police on October 5, Wang Aili claimed that she "had not used acrylamide for many years."

One day later, on October 6, Wang Aili was arrested at the airport. Prosecutors allege she was trying to return to China.

As of October 13, Wang Aili is still detained in Los Angeles without bail pending trial.

Chad Baldwin, vice president for marketing and communications at the University of Wyoming, said in an email to BBC News Vietnamese that the charges were filed in Albany County Circuit Court last week after the University of Wyoming Police Department (UWPD) completed an investigation.

The UWPD's investigation has been turned over to the Albany County Prosecutor's Office, which will formally file charges.

At the same time, the school is also conducting student disciplinary procedures.

However, the University of Wyoming emphasized that it is still at the charging stage. No person shall be presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

"Exceptionally bitter taste"

The victim's sister told the BBC in Vietnam that her brother began to suffer from health problems in August after drinking coffee with an "unusual bitter taste" brewed by the office coffee machine.

She said: "After drinking coffee for a few days, he developed symptoms such as physical fatigue, bone pain in his hands and feet, and an inability to eat and sleep. He sought medical examination but could not find the cause. The cause was later revealed through laboratory tests."

She said that K.T. had the habit of drinking coffee every day, and the coffee machine was located in his laboratory, so it was mainly used and consumed by him.

My sister said: "That classmate (Wang Aili) can freely enter and leave the laboratory because we are doing research together."

A chemistry professor discovered acrylamide in water samples. This chemical can be toxic at high doses of exposure.

Later, University of Wyoming campus police installed surveillance cameras in the office where the two men worked. Police said that on September 27, Wang Aili was filmed rummaging through the victim's desk.

On October 1, the surveillance footage again showed her taking photos, flipping through the notebooks on the table, and pouring liquid from her own cup into the cups of her colleagues.

Investigators also alleged that she twice purchased acrylamide through eBay and later tried to ask the platform to delete her account.

Professor Mark Gomelsky, a microbiology professor who directly supervised K.T. and Aili Wang, told the Associated Press that the victim was a very high-performing student.

The family said that K.T. received a doctoral scholarship to study in the United States in 2022. He had previously studied at Hanoi University of Technology and studied for a master's degree in South Korea (South Korea).

The Vietnamese graduate student's research project has been funded by the U.S. federal government and is awaiting patent approval for a new technology involving the treatment of cancer, neurological diseases and genetic diseases.

According to investigation documents, Wang Aili also engaged in similar research in China before going to the United States.

Professor Gomelski said in an email to the BBC: "This has been a horrific and unbelievable experience for me, especially for the victim and his family."

Previously, Professor Gomelsky told the Associated Press that Wang Aili failed to pass her first thesis defense, and that she might be jealous of her colleagues who successfully discovered a method of using bacteria to introduce ribonucleic acid (RNA) into human cells.

Professor Gomelsky also said that since June, Wang Aili has stopped participating in laboratory work to focus on completing the thesis.

The sister also said that the victim is still suffering from health problems. "He still feels tired, has a loss of appetite, and cannot sleep well."

Professor Gomelski told the Associated Press: "Acrylamide is a neurotoxicant and cannot be neutralized, so it remains in nerve cells and causes their death. So it is still unclear whether he will fully recover."

Acrylamide is a possible carcinogen that can form when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures and is also found in tobacco smoke.

The substance can cause acute poisoning in high doses and is also used in microbial research involving proteins or DNA.

What happens next?

Wang Aili faces a felony charge of aggravated assault; this crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of US$10,000 (66,900 yuan; NT$324,500) in Wyoming.

It is unclear when Wang Aili will be escorted back to Wyoming. Albany County Court Judge Robert Sanford approved prosecutors' request to increase bail from $200,000 to $1.5 million, which must be paid in cash.

In an email response to the BBC's request for comment, Chad Baldwin quoted a statement from University of Wyoming President Shane Reeves, which said the university "takes all issues related to the health and safety of the campus community seriously and is committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for students, faculty, staff and visitors."