Poisoning From Plants Suspected in 2 Boys’ Deaths

Two brothers, ages 2 and 3, were found dead Thursday in their El Segundo home and authorities are investigating whether the boys were fatally poisoned by eating the lethal flowers or leaves of a plant near their frontyard.

Autopsies to determine how the boys died will be conducted over the next few days, officials said.

But sheriff’s investigators stressed that they have found no evidence of foul play and that plant poisoning, probably from an oleander, most likely killed Peter and Alexander Wiltsey, who were adopted from a Russian orphanage in September.

“Let me be clear: The parents are not under any criminal investigation,” said sheriff’s spokesman David Cervantes. “ . . . This is a tragedy.”

Sheriff’s homicide detectives and a botanist from the Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture spent the afternoon picking through the vegetation--including highly toxic oleander plants--near the family’s home.

The parents told investigators that the boys became sick Monday after eating pieces of plants.

Botanist Jerry Turney examined plants that the parents said they had taken from the boys, including an oleander leaf. Half an oleander leaf or one oleander flower could be sufficient to kill boys of their age, Turney said.

While there is no oleander growing on the Wiltseys’ property, there is a huge oleander bush in a neighbor’s yard, two doors down.

“There are a handful of different plants which could be lethal if eaten, but the most likely suspect is oleander,” Turney said.

Shirley Wiltsey, the boys’ mother, told sheriff’s detectives that Peter, 3, and Alexander, 2, were playing in the yard Monday when she found them with leaves in their mouths. She could not identify the plant, detectives said.

Monday evening, both boys began vomiting, according to Cervantes’ account of the mother’s interview with detectives.

Wiltsey called the boys’ pediatrician, who told her this was a positive sign, presumably because their systems were being purged. Still, the doctor advised Wiltsey to continue watching the boys, Cervantes said.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the boys were lethargic and nauseated, but appeared to be improving, Wiltsey told investigators.

At 5:30 a.m. Thursday, their father, Tom Wiltsey, an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Co., entered their room to wake them and found them “cold to the touch,” said Cervantes.

Paramedics and investigators were called to the two-story house.

While the initial investigation does not indicate any foul play, no official ruling can be made at this time, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Norine Plett.

“The coroner will determine the cause of death,” Plett said. “And the official cause of death can’t be determined until the autopsy.” At noon, distraught neighbors watched from across the street as coroner’s investigators carried the two small bodies from the house to the coroner’s van.

The Wiltseys have two young biological daughters, but were eager to adopt children from Russia, neighbors said.

About a year ago, the couple completed the paperwork for the adoption. They also built an addition to their home to make room for the boys.

In September the Wiltseys flew to Russia and picked up the children, who were not biological brothers, from an orphanage.

“They wanted to give the two boys a better life than they could have over there,” said neighbor Annette Brozenec. “They went through so much to get those boys. The boys loved everything and everyone around them. They were absolutely beautiful children.”

Brozenec and her husband were so inspired after the Wiltseys adopted the boys that they, too, considered adopting children from Russia.

“We used to watch videos of the children in Russia with them before they went and got them,” she said. “The parents were just a wonderful, Christian family, and they just really wanted to give.”

The family attends the First Baptist Church in El Segundo, where they are admired for the love they show to each other and the rest of congregation, said Susan Svendsen, the wife of the pastor.

“They are a wonderful family,” Svendsen said.

All day Thursday, neighbors brought flowers and laid them in front of the yellow police tape that framed the family’s yard.

Neighbors said the deaths made them realize how vulnerable their young children are.

“It certainly terrifies you,” said Jim Boehnlein. “Everyone just adored those children. All the neighbors knew them because they were just so delightful. But you can’t watch them every second of the day.”

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Times staff writer Steve Berry contributed to this article.