A sweet treat turned bitter really quick in Queens. A Brooklyn woman was finally arrested for numerous charges, including attempted murder, after she allegedly tried to poison a lookalike with drug-laced cheesecake and attempted to steal the lookalike’s identity in 2017.
According to CBS New York, 42-year-old Viktoria Nasyrova gifted a cheesecake to “friend” Olga Tsuyk, 35, in the Forest Hills area of Queens. Both are brunette, fair-skinned and speak Russian.
Tsuyk reportedly fell ill after eating the cake and passed out, and was found by a friend the next day, unconscious, with pills scattered around her lingerie-clad body. After testing pieces of the cake, authorities discovered that the cake was laced with phenazepam, which were the same pills found at the scene.
“[Nasyrova] tried to make like suicide,” Tsuyk told CBS News’ 48 Hours. When Ms. Tsyuk returned home, she saw that her passport, employment authorization card, a gold ring and money were missing. The passport, card and ring were later retrieved by authorities.
“This is a bizarre and twisted crime that could have resulted in the death of a Queens woman, whose only fault was that she shared similar features with the defendant,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown in a statement. “Luckily, the Queens woman survived the poisoning. The defendant has been apprehended and now faces a long term of incarceration.”
Nasyrova reportedly fled to Russia but was caught, and this is not her first time in the news for her crimes. She was suspected of drugging men in Brighton Beach and robbing them on dates. There was an international warrant out for her arrest in 2014 for the murder of a woman in Russia, whose burned body was found in a grave in Western Russia.
She denies all claims of poisoning Tsuyk, saying “her friend” ate the cake on her own will.