Woman Accused of Poisoning Husband

S A N   D I E G O, July 12 -- A 24-year-old chemist poisoned her husband because he was about to reveal that she was using drugs and carrying on an affair with her boss, prosecutors say.

Kristin Rossum's husband, Gregory DeVillers, was found dead last fall. Investigators said his body was surrounded by rose petals, a scene chillingly reminiscent the film American Beauty — Rossum's favorite movie.

Rossum and DeVillers seemed like a very happy couple. On their wedding video, De Villers declared — "I just can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her."

Both DeVillers and Rossum came from prominent families. His father is a well-known plastic surgeon and hers is a former Justice Department official in the Reagan administration.

Deathbed of Roses

When DeVillers' body was discovered in the couple's bedroom, his head was resting on a photo from their wedding day, and nearby authorities found a love letter to Rossum from another man.

Police originally believed DeVillers' death was a suicide, carried out through an overdose of anti-anxiety pills.

But some people close to DeVillers found his death suspicious. His boss at the biotech company where he worked, Stefan Gruenwald, was convinced DeViller had not committed suicide and he asked the authorities to reopen the case.

"I was the one who initially already said this story is totally strange," said Gruenwald. "There were many, many things that just don't fit together."

Puzzling Details

When the case was reopened, the coroner found something he had missed the first time around. It turned out that the true cause of DeVillers' death was a drug so rare medical examiners normally don't test for it.

The coroner found the highly toxic drug Fentanyl, a painkiller prescribed to some cancer patients. But DeVillers had no apparent reason to use it.

Investigators said Rossum, who worked as a chemist for the San Diego medical examiner, was secretly having an affair with her boss, the chief toxicologist.

Prosecutor Dan Goldstein said the weekend before DeVillers' death, Rossum told her husband she was leaving him.