DARLINGTON, Wis. — A Monroe woman is accused of poisoning her husband last year, temporarily sending him into a coma.
Amanda Chapin, 50, is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
According to a complaint filed last week in the Lafayette County Circuit Court, Chapin’s 70-year-old husband was taken to the hospital on August 21 after he had difficulty breathing. He fell into a coma, and bloodwork showed he had barbiturates in his system.
The man’s son filed a temporary restraining order against Chapin on Aug. 23, requesting medical power of attorney over his father and alleging Chapin poisoned his father with barbiturates.
Family members speak
Speaking to detectives, the son said he had received a text from his father in May 2022 telling him he would be made medical power of attorney. However, paperwork at the hospital dated May 6, 2022 showed Chapin as primary power of attorney and the son as secondary. The son claims his signature on that document was forged.
The son said his father had begun having vertigo symptoms in July 2022 and stayed overnight at the hospital on August 7, 2022, but nothing was diagnosed. The father’s bloodwork showed he had phenobarbital, pentobarbital, and primidone in his system.
His son told detectives that while his father does not use those barbiturates, they were kept at his home because he is a veterinarian and that his father used phenobarbital when euthanizing animals.
The son told detectives that his father and Chapin had just been married in March, and had only dated for about a year after meeting over the internet. He said Chapin had kept her past a secret, and had recently been added to the deed to his father’s home.
One of the man’s daughters told detectives she was suspicious of Chapin because she was not forthcoming about her past, and accused her of lying to and manipulating her father. The man reportedly told his other daughter he was “done” with Chapin after she went through his phone without his permission while he was in the hospital with vertigo symptoms.
The man wakes up
By the end of August, the man had awakened from his coma and was able to speak with detectives. According to the complaint, he alleged that Chapin poisoned him three times.
The first instance allegedly came on July 18. After having morning coffee with Chapin, he told authorities he went to stand up and felt like he had vertigo symptoms. He tried to take medicine to combat the symptoms but felt “five times worse.” He says he went to the hospital for evaluation but could not get a diagnosis.
The second instance allegedly came on or around Aug. 2. Much like the first time, the man told detectives he felt vertigo symptoms when standing up after his morning coffee with Chapin, though the symptoms were less severe this time.
The third instance was allegedly on Aug. 21. The man said Chapin had made him his morning coffee. He said that he drank the coffee, and the next memory he had was waking up in the hospital on Aug. 25.
The man said that he usually drinks his coffee between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., but EMS was not called to his residence until 12:30 p.m. He claimed that Chapin left him outside unresponsive for multiple hours before calling for help.
The man told detectives that he had previously used phenobarbital and primidone to euthanize Chapin’s dog. Primidone is an anti-seizure medication. He claimed that Chapin poisoned him with primidone the first two times, then used phenobarbital the third time.
He told detectives that his marriage with Chapin was “fairly stormy” and believed she was using him as a “sugar daddy.” He said Chapin knew about his feelings about the marriage because she went through his phone messages to his children.
The man said that Chapin would have had to use her mortar and pestle to grind up the primidone used to poison him because it is a pill. He said when she fled his home following his release from the hospital, she left many personal belongings, but took her mortar and pestle.
On Sep. 1, Chapin was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Monroe and was taken to a local hospital. Written letters addressed to law enforcement proclaiming she did not poison her husband were found in her room.
Chapin is scheduled to make an initial appearance in court on Wednesday.
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