Article content continued

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Prosecutor Willy Thompson told the court that the chemical was found by a private lab rather than by officials, because it isn’t something authorities test for in run-of-the-mill cases.

“She almost got away with it,” he said, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Prosectors dismissed Lana’s claims that she had been the victim, for years, of her husband’s abuse.

“Having destroyed Steven Clayton himself, Lana Sue Clayton comes to court trying to destroy his reputation,” said prosecutor Kevin Brackett. “He’s not here to say anything about it — because she killed him.”

In the end, Judge Paul Burch of the South Carolina Circuit Court agreed with the prosecution and sentenced Clayton to 25 years in prison, saying the case was the weirdest he had ever seen. He said that if Clayton was concerned about any spousal abuse, she could have left her husband instead of killing him.

“This one takes the cake as far as being bizarre,” the judge said. “The old saying, ‘What a tangled web we weave.’ Ms. Clayton, you sure have tangled this one up.”

Saying she couldn’t believe it when the drops ended up killing her husband, Clayton said she had tried to take her own life. “I could not live with myself,” she insisted.

However, admonishing the nurse further, the judge said:

“How can you maintain you did this to teach him a lesson, when it is obvious from the facts that you let him suffer for three days. You ignored him.”

Court proceedings outlined by the Herald detailed how the pair had been married five years, and that Steven Clayton had been married six times before meeting Lana. Prosecutors said she destroyed his will after killing him — knowing that if he had no will, she would be in for a windfall.