A New York woman faces criminal charges including attempted murder, burglary and assault in connection to a poisoning more than a year ago.
According to reports, 42-year-old Viktoria Nasyrova, a Russian living in Brooklyn, is accused of poisoning a woman with a tampered cheesecake with the intention of assuming her identity as well as numerous physical possessions.
The suspect was initially arrested last March on suspicion of committing the 2016 crime, which was reported staged to suggest 35-year-old Olga Tsvyk committed suicide.
As the New York Daily News reported, Nasyrova was in the U.S. in the first place because she was avoiding murder charges stemming from a 2014 death in her native Russia.
Authorities claim that in reality, Nasyrova identified the victim, a Russian speaker who lived in Queens, as a target for her scheme and presented the cheesecake as a gift upon visiting her home.
Though the victim reportedly ate the entire dessert and passed out as a result of the tranquilizer it contained, she was discovered unconscious the next day and recovered.
The scene had allegedly been set to mimic a suicide, with the victim dressed in lingerie and an assortment of pills displayed around her.
After regaining consciousness, Tsvyk reportedly noticed multiple identifying documents as well as cash and valuables had been taken from her home.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown released a statement this week regarding what he called a “bizarre and twisted crime” plotted by the defendant, as WCBS reported.
He said the crime could have proved fatal for a victim “whose only fault was that she shared similar features” with Nasyrova.
“Luckily, the Queens woman survived the poisoning,” Brown said. “The defendant has been apprehended and now faces a long term of incarceration.”
If convicted of the U.S. charges, Nasyrova could face up to 25 years behind bars.
[Featured image: Viktoria Nasyrova/Facebook]