Arizona Woman Sentenced to Probation for POISONING HUSBAND’S COFFEE WITH BLEACH
An Arizona lady who was charged with attempted murder for poisoning her husband’s coffee has been sentenced to three years probation.
Melody Felicano Johnson, 39, pled guilty to two charges of introducing poison or a hazardous chemical to food or drink last month, CNN reported. Johnson’s attorney earlier stated that she acknowledged to putting trace amounts of bleach in her husband Roby Johnson’s coffee pot twice in 2023, according to local news site KOLD.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Javier Chon-Lopez sentenced her to three years probation and mental health treatment, citing her now-estranged husband’s assertion that he did not want her to go to prison, according to CNN.
She had already spent nearly a year in prison after failing to pay her $250,000 bond, according to the site. Prosecutors demanded a large bail because she had recently purchased a property in the Philippines, making her a flight risk.
Melody, of Tucson, was first charged with attempted first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty in August 2023, but her charges were reduced after she agreed to a plea deal.
Melody was initially accused of poisoning Roby’s coffee in March 2023, when he noted a “foul taste.” Roby was a member of the United States Air Force at the time, and they were living in Germany with their child.
According to court documents released by CNN affiliate KVOA in August 2023, Roby purchased pool testing strips and set up surveillance cameras after accusing Melody of poisoning his coffee for several weeks.
According to CNN, Roby’s security cameras—placed in the couple’s laundry room, over their coffee machine, and a third to show Melody walking between the two areas—allegedly captured footage of her pouring bleach into a container and then pouring liquids from that container into the coffee machine.
According to NBC, Roby determined from the pool testing strips that the coffee “showed high levels of chlorine.” However, he feigned to keep drinking the coffee and waited to report the poisoning until his family returned home to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, he told investigators.
Investigators later investigated the couple’s home and discovered a bottle under Johnson’s bathroom sink containing a liquid that smelled like bleach, according to NBC. Investigators also said that the liquid in the coffee machine smelled like bleach.
Melody and her husband were living together at the time of the incident, but they were about to divorce, according to CNN. According to investigators, Roby “believes [Melody] was trying to kill him to collect death benefits.”