Katie Bieri

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Chandler man whose wife injected fecal matter into his hospital IV argued for leniency in her sentencing Tuesday, telling the judge that his wife's emotional and psychological problems were at fault for her bizarre actions.

Rose Mary Vogel, 66, was sentenced to four years of probation and one year of weekends in jail after she was caught tampering with her husband's IV line at Chandler Regional Medical Center in January. She must also undergo a mental-health screening.

Vogel, a registered nurse with bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing, turned over her certification following her arrest. She was previously employed at Chandler Regional Medical Center.

Vogel claimed in court on Tuesday that she hadn't slept in several days and was extremely depressed at the time of the January attack. Despite persistent efforts, she said she could not remember the actions that led up to her arrest.

"I have no recollection of any of (the incident)," Vogel said. "I've always loved my husband through sickness and in health."

Her husband, Phillip Vogel, told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Gottsfield that his wife's best friend had died a month prior to the attack and that the death contributed to her state of mind. Phillip told the judge that he still loves her and has forgiven her for her actions.

"(It's) nothing anyone could have foreseen, that's what makes it so tragic," Phillip said. "It's so devastating on our family. Rose Mary is no danger to me."

Prosecutor Blaine Gadow disagreed. He told Gottsfield that he no longer believed that Rose Mary was trying to kill her husband, but that she was trying to take charge in the relationship by debilitating her husband.

Phillip was being hospitalized for a heart condition on Jan. 30 when an EKG technician caught Rose Mary stroking and rubbing her husband's arm, which she was advised not to do, according to court documents.

Shortly after the technician left the room, a pump alarm went off and a nurse responded to investigate it. At that point, the wife was found touching the pump and line, according to the documents. The nurse inspected the line and found a brown liquid in the saline solution, which smelled of fecal matter.

The nurse capped the line and left to find help. Upon her return, Rose Mary had removed the line and tried to dump the substance in a trash can, according to the documents. The substance was later confirmed to be fecal matter.

A later search of Rose Mary found three syringes in her purse that contained traces of the substance.

Starting the day after Christmas, she must turn herself in at a Maricopa County jail, where she will continue to be held on weekends until Christmas Day next year.