A New York woman pleaded not guilty to several charges on Thursday, after being caught on surveillance allegedly trying to poison her husband.
According to People, Renee Burke, 40, and her husband Matthew Burke have been in the midst of an ugly divorce. The father has custody of their two children.
The mother of two allegedly broke into her husband’s home on three separate occasions in September.
According to People, on September 6, Matthew poured himself a glass of wine, but said he spit it out because it had a “chemical taste.”
Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini added that the children’s babysitter later told Matthew that his 4-year-old son said, “mommy came in and put something in daddy’s drink.”
On September 10, Matthew experienced a similar taste when attempting to drink a Pepsi. this encounter, police advised him to set up security cameras in his home.
According to prosecutors, footage from September 12 allegedly shows Renee poisoning a bottle of wine with a pink liquid she’d put in two baby bottles and had her eight-year-old daughter carrying.
Renee was later arrested on a burglary charge.
As People reports, she told police that she only added water and fruit juice to the drinks, but lab tests revealed the pink liquid was actually antifreeze.
Further, police say they discovered a bottle of pink antifreeze in her kitchen while searching her home.
According to People, Sini also said that Renee allegedly googled “what liquids for cars can kill a human.”
As People reports, Matthew’s lawyer, Richard Stafford, told the NY Post:
“He’s happy to get a good night’s sleep without worrying about her breaking in again. She made a cold-blooded and calculated decision to try to kill him. That’s pretty chilling.”
In court on Thursday, Renee’s lawyer, Joel Salinger, said that his client denies all allegations and is being set up by her estranged husband. The lawyer argues that this is “mostly all about her children” and making sure she can still be a part of their lives.
That same day, she pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted assault, second-degree burglary, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She is being held on $400,000 bond.
