An Orange County grand jury has indicted a dermatologist for allegedly poisoning her husband by pouring drain cleaner into his tea for several weeks.
Irvine resident Yue “Emily” Yu, 45, has been charged with three felony felony poisonings and one felony domestic battery with bodily harm, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. .
The alleged poisoning happened on July 11, 15 and 25 last year. The video captured Yu pouring drain cleaner into her husband’s tea, which had been left on a counter. Her husband turned over tea samples to the Irvine Police Department.
The samples were then tested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which confirmed they matched a liquid drain cleaner, the district attorney’s office said.
“Our homes should be where we feel safest,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement. “However, a licensed medical professional took advantage of her husband’s daily rituals to torment him by systematically giving him a Drano-like substance in his tea with the intention of causing him pain and suffering.
Yu and her husband, Dr. Jack Chen, have been embroiled in a custody dispute since last year. She has been granted visitation, but recently filed a child support claim with Chen, saying she has been unable to work since the poisoning allegations surfaced.
Chen, a 53-year-old radiologist, filed a restraining order against his 45-year-old wife Yu in August.
Yu, who was arrested by Irvine police on suspicion of attempting to poison her husband, was released from jail after posting $30,000 bail in August. Chen said she called him to ask him to post bail, but he refused, according to the restraining order.
Yu’s former defense attorney, David Wohl, said she pours the hoof cleaner into a small cup to clean the pipes like anyone else would. He denied that she did anything wrong.
In the restraining order applications, Chen said he was “afraid” to live in the same Irvine house with Yu “because of (Yu)’s attempts to poison me with Drano.”
Chen also alleged that “both children suffered physical, verbal and emotional abuse from their mother…and maternal grandmother.”
Chen said that in March and April of last year, he “started noticing a chemical taste in my lemonade” and soon after “developed symptoms that led me to see the doctor, who m examined and diagnosed two stomach ulcers, gastritis and esophagitis.”
This prompted Chen to set up a surveillance video in the kitchen, attaching videos and photos that allegedly show his wife pouring Drano into their drinks.
He said the two began dating in 2011 and married on July 4, 2012. He detailed several alleged cases of child abuse inflicted on their children.
“After the children were born, I worried about Emily’s behavior,” Chen said. “Not only did he ask me a lot to massage him, once I couldn’t because I was sick, he walked on my head until I did, he also started to massage me. hide money.”
He said “his wife’s upbringing, if you can call it that, revolves around yelling, name-calling, verbal abuse, hitting, pushing, pulling and emotional abuse”.
She claimed that if the two boys said they liked spending time with him, she would ‘put them in her room and yell at them until they assured her they wouldn’t show me affection’ .
He also accused her of “sleep deprivation” on occasion.
Yu is due in court on April 18 at the Santa Ana Central Justice Center and faces a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months if convicted on all counts.