This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A resident of a retirement community made the deadly toxin ricin and tested it on her neighbours by putting it on their food or in drinks, investigators said.

Betty Miller told an FBI agent she wanted to “injure herself” and was testing the effectiveness of the poison on other residents at the Wake Robin senior living facility, according to a criminal complaint.

Man who sent ricin letters to Obama and others gets 25-year sentence Read more

Miller, 70, made her first appearance in federal court on Friday. Judge John Conroy noted that she had a “lengthy mental health history” but did not elaborate. She was placed in custody and was scheduled to be in court again on Wednesday. Miller said she was working on getting a lawyer.

Police were called to the senior community in Shelburne on Tuesday after Miller told heathcare providers she had manufactured the ricin and placed it on other residents’ food and beverages, the agent said in the complaint.

The state health department said on Friday it became aware of one person who probably became ill with ricin poisoning but said no one was currently ill.

Miller said she harvested 30 to 40 castor beans from plants growing on Wake Robin’s property and made two to three tablespoons of ricin twice in her kitchen, the complaint said. She exposed other residents to the ricin on at least three occasions, the complaint said.

Investigators found a pill bottle half-full with powder labeled as ricin in a basket in a kitchen cabinet of Miller’s apartment amid other pill bottles labeled “apple seed”, “cherry seed” and “yew seed”, the complaint said.

The powder tested positive for ricin. Investigators also found instructions for making ricin that apparently were from the internet, the affidavit said.

If inhaled, ricin causes difficulty breathing and other symptoms. If ingested, symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, hallucinations and seizures. Initial symptoms of ricin poisoning are most likely to occur within four to 10 hours of exposure.

Wake Robin said in a statement on Friday that one apartment was closed off and that the resident living there would not return.

“We have received assurances from the Vermont department of health and the FBI that no one’s health is at risk,” it said.