Katrina Fouts Pendleton, Indiana woman accused of murdering husband David w/ poisonous mushrooms. Also charged was family friend, Terry Hopkins.
An Indiana woman has been accused of murdering her husband after feeding him toxic amounts of poisonous mushrooms before dumping his body in a ditch.
Katrina Fouts, 54, of Pendleton, and Terry Hopkins, 64, are charged with murder in the death of David Fouts, 50. Fouts according to was also last week charged with conspiracy and failure to report a corpse reports WANE.
The murder charges come some five months after the woman’s husband was found deceased as investigators sought to determine the man’s cause of death The Indianapolis Star reports.
Fouts of Hamilton County was found dead in a ditch on April 24 by a woman walking along the road. The victim was quickly identified as David Fouts, but figuring out what led up to his death proved difficult.
Fouts’ wife had never reported him missing and it had been at least 3 days since anyone had last seen the man alive.
Mushrooms tested positive for muscarine, a naturally occurring toxic poison
An autopsy of the apparent murder victim later found chunks of mushrooms in his stomach, which were determined to be toxic and poisonous.
‘There was a poisonous agent in his stomach that, if untreated, will produce death,’ the Hamilton County Coroner told the Indianapolis Star.
Additionally, officials said in an affidavit that they discovered searches on Katrina’s cell phone about poisonous mushrooms and inquiries about overdosing on medications.
According to Metro, the mushrooms tested positive for muscarine, a naturally occurring toxic poison found in certain varieties of deadly mushrooms. The poison is usually undetectable after about three days, but examiners were able to determine the poison’s presence through the mushroom chunks.
It’s unclear if David Fouts was force-fed or was given the poison mushrooms to eat under false pretenses. However, his corpse was found with various cuts to his hand at the time of its discovery.
Family friend and former police officer Terry Hopkins is also charged with aiding in the murder of David Fouts.
According to WWLP, no motive has been given for the toxic-based killing.
‘how to pass lie detector test’
Prosecutors also alleged that they discovered DNA evidence on David Fouts’ body that tied his wife to the slaying.
Investigators are still working to determine how exactly the killing took place, and have alleged Katrina Fouts admitted to killing her husband over the course of various interviews, The Indianapolis Star reported.
After her first interview, Katrina reportedly searched ‘Indiana homicide laws,’ ‘crime of passion law in Indiana,’ and ‘how to pass lie detector test’ on her phone.
According to WANE, investigators believe her husband’s likely cause of death was a lethal dose of toxins from the poison mushroom chunks in his stomach.
Katrina Fouts and Hopkins are currently being held without bond in a county jail, the accused pair are due back in court in early November.
