Nichole A. Maks Florida woman douses self in Diet Mountain Dew to erase DNA after killing 79 year old roommate, Michael Cerasol at their shared apartment.
She did what? A blood stained Florida woman suspected of murder asked police for soda in which she then proceeded to ‘pour all over herself’ in an attempt to wash away DNA evidence from her body, Daytona Beach cops said.
Nichole A. Maks, 35, was charged with tampering with evidence and resisting arrest with violence and premeditated first-degree murder in the death of 79-year-old Volusia County man, Michael Cerasoli on Aug. 5, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Firefighters were called to a burning home on the 600 block of Clark Street at 1:46 a.m. on July 1. Clothes on the second floor had been set on fire, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office stated while noting that they had ‘no [additional] information on the arson investigation.’
Barefoot suspect bleeding with ripped clothing and wielding weapons seen close to murder scene 2 hours later
After extinguishing the flames, first responders found Cerasoli lying facedown in a blood-ladden room. He had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds to the torso, cops said.
The dead man’s landlord told police that Maks was his other tenant – but the woman was nowhere to be found, ClickOrlando reported.
Two cellphones were recovered near the 79-year-old’s corpse: one belonged to the victim, while the other, which had a bloodied knife balanced on top of it, belonged to Maks.
Less than two hours later, police spotted a barefoot Maks bleeding profusely from her leg along with a ripped shirt outside in the nearby community of Holly Hill.
When they approached, police said, she ‘dropped a knife and a hammer’ at their feet.
Maks evaded questions about her recent whereabouts and where she lived, first pointing in a direction and saying she lived ‘right over there’ by a nearby pawn shop before claiming she had been living on the streets for the last four years, police said.
Suspect kept changing her story
She denied knowing Cerasoli when detectives showed her his photograph.
When pressed, police said she conceded that she knew the man but denied seeing him on the day he was murdered. Then she shifted again, telling police she currently lived with Cerasoli and was at their home earlier that day.
Daytona Beach police then took Maks into custody for questioning.
After she was read her Miranda rights, Maks told detectives that she never entered Cerasoli’s bedroom and only set foot on the second floor of their shared apartment to ‘feed her spiders.’
When asked about the weapons she had dropped, police said, Maks according to the probable cause affidavit became ‘agitated’ and demanded a lawyer. Police returned later with a warrant to test the woman’s bloodied body for DNA evidence.
Maks then asked for a can of Diet Mountain Dew and police obliged her.
Recent study showed artificial sweetener can break down DNA evidence
She began to ‘procrastinate’ with the drink, with detectives trying to pull the can away from her, police said as per FOX35.
Then, Maks ‘began to resist and poured the can of soda all over her body and hair… pulling away from officers in attempts to interfere with the possible evidence on [her] body,’ according to the affidavit.
Police then allegedly forced a ‘pulling and kicking’ Maks into their cruiser.
Blood on the knife found near Cerasoli’s body matched samples taken from Maks’ clothing, police said. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that her DNA was also recovered on the weapon’s handle.
Maks was being held in Volusia County Jail without bond and is scheduled for a court appearance on Sept. 5. Defense lawyers for the woman have since said their client is not ‘mentally competent’ to stand trial. No known murder motive was immediately known.
A recent study from North Carolina State University indicated that sucralose – a common artificial sweetener also known as Splenda and found in Diet Mountain Dew and other sodas – can break down the genetic material that makes up DNA.
While researchers found that the sweetener could put people at risk for disease and wear down the lining of the intestines, it is unclear whether dousing oneself in soda would actually eliminate forensic evidence.
