An Arizona woman, Melody Felicano Johnson, who confessed to poisoning her husband’s coffee with bleach, reached a plea agreement to avoid prison.
Initially charged in August 2023 with attempted first-degree murder and other offences, she faced up to two years in prison per charge.
In April 2024, she pleaded guilty to two lesser counts of adding harmful substances to food or drink. Her attorney advocated leniency, highlighting her year in custody on a $250,000 bail. Under the plea deal, Johnson was sentenced to three years of probation and mandated to receive mental health treatment.
The court also restricted her communications with her husband, allowing contact only in the presence of legal representatives, CNN reports.
The investigation uncovered troubling dynamics in their marriage. Her husband, Roby Johnson, an Air Force employee, suspected her motives were financially driven, believing she intended to claim death benefits.
Roby’s suspicions arose after detecting an unusual taste in his coffee in Germany in March 2023. He used pool testing strips that indicated high chlorine levels in his coffee pot. Further, hidden camera footage seemed to show his wife tampering with the coffee maker, leading Roby to report his findings to the Tucson Police Department on July 6, 2023. However, initial investigations stalled due to inconclusive video evidence.
Persistence led Roby to install another camera disguised as a fire alarm, which captured clearer evidence. On July 18, he presented new footage to the police, purportedly showing his wife pouring bleach into the coffee machine. She was arrested shortly thereafter.
Despite their ongoing divorce and shared custody of their child, Roby Johnson expressed a desire in court for his wife not to face imprisonment.
