Husband secretly drugged pregnant wife’s drinks to cause abortion, Texas officials say
After learning his wife was pregnant with their child, a Texas man tried forcing his wife to have an abortion by sneaking a drug into her water and other beverages, authorities said.
A grand jury in Harris County recently indicted the 38-year-old husband on charges of assault of a pregnant person and assault to force an abortion, according to court records. In Texas, it is a felony “for a person who knowingly performs, induces, or attempts an abortion.”
In a complaint filed on May 25, officials accused the man of placing a drug that contained Misoprostol into his wife’s drinks. Misoprostol is commonly used to induce medical abortions.
Authorities said his wife filed a report in April, stating her husband of 11 years was poisoning her. She said they were in couples counseling when she told him she was pregnant. He “had a negative reaction and after that evening, he sent her text messages expressing that he was not happy about the pregnancy and did not know what to do,” authorities said.
Their counselor suggested they spend spring break together — as they had been living apart — and they agreed to go to West Texas with their children the week of March 12.
The woman reported that during this trip her husband began insisting she needed to stay hydrated and drink more water.
Once she was home on March 17, she said her husband came to her house and brought her breakfast and a cup full of water, according to court records. He told her he wouldn’t leave until she drank all the water.
“(The wife) stated that she drank out of the cup and stopped to take a breath, noticing that the water inside the cup appeared to be cloudy,” officials said. Her husband said it was maybe from a dirty cup or bad pipes, then he took the cup away.
About 30 minutes later, she became very sick, according to the complaint. She experienced painful and extreme cramps, diarrhea and a large amount of bleeding as though she were menstruating.
She went to an emergency room for treatment and continued bleeding later that evening, officials said.
Several times over the next few days, the husband again tried getting her to drink more beverages, including a drink in an orange sports bottle and a bottle of orange juice with a broken seal, according to court records. Again a month later, he provided her another drink even when she had two beverages already with her as other people were around.
The woman said that after that first cup of water, she didn’t drink any of the beverages he provided, including a Sonic drink with what appeared to have an unknown substance inside.
She had cameras installed outside her home, and on April 24, officials said she noticed her husband cleaning out his truck and taking trash to the curb. “This was out of character ... as he does not do chores around the house,” she said.
The woman checked the trash can after he left and found opened packs of Cyrux, “a Mexican pharmacy version of the American drug Cytotec” that contains Misoprostol, authorities said.
Two days later, she said she watched her husband as he got her a drink and poured contents from a plastic bag into the beverage. She did not drink it, according to the complaint.
Following her police report, authorities said they confirmed the drug could have caused the symptoms she experienced after drinking the water her husband gave her.
Authorities tested six water samples the woman saved, and at least two of them contained Misoprostol, according to KTRK.
“It’s manipulative,” assistant district attorney Anthony Osso told the news outlet. “It’s pre-meditated. What we are alleging (he) did, which we believe the evidence supports, is a pretty heinous act. To do that to someone who trusts you, it’s taking advantage of that trust.“
McClatchy News is not naming the man to protect the identity of his wife and her baby. The baby was born early but “is now healthy and doing well,” KTRK reported.
The man’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Nov. 10, but told KTRK “we very much look forward to our day in court and are thoroughly convinced that we will prevail in a Court of law when our time comes to defend these allegations.”
The man is out on a $30,000 bond, according to court records. He’s scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 2.
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