Wife admits to crushing up pills and putting them in husband’s drink hoping to kill him, cops say

Keri Denise Kelsey is in custody after officers found her to be a ‘threat to the victim’s wellbeing’

A Utah woman allegedly tried to poison her husband using her daughter’s medication, police say (Getty Images)

A Utah woman was arrested after police say she crushed up pills and put them in her husband’s drinks trying to kill him.

Keri Denise Kelsey, 58, was arrested on December 4 on one third-degree felony charge of surreptitious administering of a certain substance. Her husband was admitted to the intensive care unit on December 1 after he consumed the medication.

Vernal City Police Department officers were first alerted to the case once the woman’s husband had already been in the hospital for several days.

A witness told an officer Kelsey had admitted to telling them she crushed up Trazadone and put it in her husband’s drink, police say. The witness later confronted the woman on her alleged actions. Another witness who knew about the pills told police Kelsey told them “Maybe the f***** will die this time.”

She said she put portions of her daughter’s medication in her husband’s alcohol bottles to “help him sleep,” according to Fox13.

The husband corroborated that information to investigators, telling them his wife made him two drinks the day before he was transported to the hospital. He’d started drinking in the afternoon and “things started getting weird.” The husband noted he did not consume more alcohol than usual on the day.

Department officials later interviewed Kelsey, who they say admitted to crushing approximately five pills and putting them in her husband’s Jagermeister. She’d committed the act when her husband was outside so he wouldn’t notice, she told cops, according to the outlet.

The pills are prescribed blood pressure medication to treat anxiety, she noted. Her husband had willingly taken two of the pills in the past and used them as sleeping medication.

Kelsey is being held without bail pending a pretrial hearing after police determined her to be a “threat to the victim’s wellbeing”.