MY BEST FRIEND POISONED ME!
Angie Hausler
became best
pals with Tina
Vazquez after
moving into the
neighborhood - and it
nearly cost Angie her life.
The families socialized, their kids played
together, and when mom-of-three Angie
became seriously ill, she turned to Tina.
After splitting with her husband, Tina was
happy to spend time in Angie's home helping
out. But unknown to her new pal, lovelorn
Tina had developed a fatal attraction for
Angie's husband Brian.
So the twisted 35-year-old hatched
a plot to steal him for herself. And
Tina began secretly poisoning
Angie!
"I thought she was my friend
- I can't believe anyone could be
so evil," says Angie, 32.
Because of the damaging poison,
Angie now has chronic health
problems. She has to take more than
a dozen prescriptions just to make it
through the day. Brian has sold most of his
belongings to pay medical bills, now some
$120,000.
"I keep asking myself why this happened,"
says Brian, who cares for his wife full time
after losing his job.
"What did I ever do to make Tina think that
she ever had a chance to be romantically
involved with me?"
The couple can hardly believe how their
dream of a better life for their children
turned into a nightmare after they moved
from St. Louis to Bonne Terre, Mo.
Tina and her husband Joe began having
dinner with the Hauslers in their home a
couple of times a week - until Tina broke up
with Joe after a few months, and he moved
out.
"After that, she started coming over every
day," recalled Brian, 35.
Added Angie: "I felt sorry for her and
became her shoulder to cry on."
Within months, Angie was feeling sick all
the time, suffering chronic tiredness, and
she packed on weight.
"The doctors couldn't find anything
wrong," she says.
Tina, who worked in a meat packing plant,
came over to help Angie around the house
most evenings and usually brought her a
Dr. Pepper each day.
By March 2006, Angie was so sick she
could barely get out of bed. Tina offered
her what she said were two antibiotic
capsules. Ten minutes after taking
one, she could barely breathe and
fell to the floor. She was rushed
to the hospital, where doctors
discovered she'd been
poisoned.
They analyzed the second
pill Tina had given Angie and
discovered it contained sodium
nitrate - which can be lethal in even
small doses!
Brian confronted Tina, who confessed
trying to poison his wife.
"She said she thought she could make
me happier than my wife," said Brian.
"I went nuts - I told her to get out of my
house, and she left."
Tina was arrested after Brian called the
cops. She'd gotten the sodium nitrate from
the meat packing plant.
Although doctors say Angie is lucky to be
alive, she still faces severe health problems.
"I'm very tired all the time," said Angie.
"I have short-term memory loss and
respiratory problems. I get headaches
and awful stomach pains.
"Doctors say Tina was also probably
putting tiny amounts of poison into the
Dr. Pepper she used to bring me."
Tina has confessed to the wicked scheme
and now faces 20 years in prison as part of a
plea bargain.
Published on: 11/21/2007
