Woman Accused of Poisoning Husband

S A N   D I E G O, July 12, 2001 -- 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.

"Her husband was going to turn her in for having an affair and for being a current user of methamphetamine," Goldstein told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.

Rossum was arrested after the toxicology tests on DeViller's body were sent to an outside lab, where it was determined that the cause of his death was acute intoxication with Fentanyl.

Pleading 'Not Guilty'

Rossum pleaded not guilty at her arraignment more than two weeks ago. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 9.

Goldstein said the case against Rossum is strong.

"We believe we have a compelling case, compelling evidence to convict her," the prosecutor said.

According to the autopsy, DeVillers slipped into a coma up to 12 hours before his death. But during that time, Rossum said she came home and fed him soup.

A month after his death, the San Diego medical examiner's office completed an inventory of its drug locker. It was missing methamphetamine and a supply of Fentanyl.

Investigators said Rossum had been in charge of the drug locker logs for the examiner's office.

Rossum's old boss and boyfriend fled to his native Australia before police could question him. Meanwhile, Rossum found a new job at a biotech company, where she continued to work until she was arrested.

Rossum's parents say she is innocent of the murder charges. "If she has an affair with her boss, if she uses drugs, these are examples of moral weakness," said her father, Ralph Rossum. "Kristin, unfortunately, has displayed bad judgment and weakness of, of character. But that is very, very different from … committing murder."

In the state of California, the charge "murder by poison" is what's called a "special circumstance," a factor that qualifies this case for the death penalty. That means if she's convicted, Rossum could face death by lethal injection.