Woman Charged With Mailing 2 Cyanide Packets

Attempted poison-by-mail suspect Kathryn Schoonover was charged in Los Angeles federal court Wednesday with two counts of mailing cyanide powder disguised as health supplements to her perceived enemies.

The charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years apiece, but federal authorities emphasized that more charges are likely as the investigation continues.

Schoonover remained in jail after being denied bail by U.S. Magistrate Margaret Nagle.

Schoonover was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies Sunday after witnesses in the Marina del Rey post office saw the 50-year-old woman wearing gloves and spooning powder from a bottle marked with a skull and crossbones into envelopes.

Shortly after deputies arrived, they discovered a self-titled “hit list” of names and addresses in Schoonover’s van. Postal inspectors contacted the individuals named on the list and found that at least eight people had already received packets of powder that looked like product samples in April and June.

Prosecutors charged Schoonover on Wednesday with sending packets to two of those victims. Charges have yet to be filed for her alleged actions Sunday.

“There are so many unanswered questions in this case,” said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. “There’s so much we don’t know about Sunday alone.”

Because none of the eight victims saved the mailing, investigators cannot say for certain that the packets contained poison. One woman, a New York nurse at a psychiatric hospital who once treated Schoonover, reported tasting the powder and getting a headache shortly afterward. The form of cyanide that authorities discovered Schoonover with Sunday can be lethal in small doses, but investigators have not linked any deaths or serious injuries to the April and June mailings, Mrozek said.

Public defender Ellen Barry asked that the charges be dismissed, arguing that there was no evidence linking her client to the April and June mailings.

But Nagle said the victims’ names appeared on Schoonover’s “hit list,” describing mailings similar to those that Schoonover attempted to distribute Sunday.

The “hit list” includes many law enforcement officers, politicians and medical personnel. Some of them report having had disputes and confrontations with Schoonover.

Schoonover, a homeless woman who lived in her van, also is a cancer patient. She has a history of angrily confronting government and medical officials, and was treated for 10 weeks at a psychiatric hospital in New York state.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled Sept. 10.