Dead man’s girlfriend sentenced for having illegal poison

NORFOLK, Va. – A woman who was storing the poison ricin around the time of her boyfriend’s mysterious death has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

The Virginian-Pilot reports 63-year-old Debbie Siers-Hill was sentenced Monday in a federal Virginia court after pleading guilty last year to possessing the poison.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner says the cause and manner of death of 67-year-old Frederick Brooks remains “undetermined.” No one has been charged with his death and Siers-Hill has denied allegations that she poisoned her boyfriend.

Virginia Beach police said they found ricin in Siers-Hill’s storage unit while investigating Brooks’ 2016 death. Police said they also recovered guns and a ricin-tainted syringe.

Federal prosecutors say they are troubled that Siers-Hill manufactured ricin and researched death by caffeine around the time Brooks died.

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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com