TEMPE, Ariz. -- Murder charges were filed against a man police say put cyanide in the bottled water at his wife's office, where one of the intended victim's co-workers died after drinking from the cooler.
Lewis Allen Harry Jr., 32, was charged Friday with one count of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder.
The murder charge resulted from the death of Julie Williams, 46, Mesa, who collapsed last Monday after drinking bottled water from a cooler at a Tempe insurance office. She died Wednesday night at a hospital.
An autopsy showed Williams died of cyanide poisoning.
Authorities said two other people had drunk from the spiked cooler, but spit out the water because it tasted bad. They suffered no ill effects.
Harry's wife, Sandra, who worked with Williams at the Transamerica Title Insurance Co., was the intended victim of the cyanide poisoning, Detective Michael Palmer said.
Authorities said it was the second time Hahad tried to kill his wife.
Sylvia Lopez, a spokeswoman for the County Attorney's Office, said one of the attempted murder charges filed Friday accused Harry of poisoning his wife's bottle of Scotch on March 21.
Harry was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of attempted murder. Justice of the Peace Fred Ackel set bond at $1.37 million after Palmer said Harry tried to kill his wife. After Williams died, police sought the murder charge.
Police said Harry, an athletic equipment manager at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, apparently poisoned the water last weekend withsodium cyanide, which was found in the water by state crime lab technicians. Police refused to say how the cyanide was put into the cooler.
Dwight Harder of the state chemist's office said sodium cyanide is used in the computer industry and to process gold and silver, but that it is not readily available to the public.
He said cyanide dissolves in water and is clear. It is odorless when dry, but might have a slight almond-like smell when mixed with water.
