Woman investigated for trying to poison husband under direction of soap star impersonator

A Massachusetts woman is accused of trying to poison her husband with soup after someone posing as a daytime soap opera star convinced her to do it, police said. The 64-year-old resident of Townsend, about 50 miles northwest of Boston. She has not been charged in connection to the poisoning allegation as police are still investigating the incident.

"I didn't poison him," the woman told WBZ-TV, CBS Boston on Monday as she stood in the doorway of her home. "I love him very, very much and I would never try to kill anyone."

Authorities said the saga began on Dec. 1 when a person posing as as actor Thorsten Kaye, who plays Ridge Forrester on “The Bold and the Beautiful.” reached out to the woman with a request.

“You have to get rid of your husband honey. I need you so much,” the person messaged the Townsend resident online, court documents said.

The woman said she needed to do some thinking, the filings said. 

“Making an amazing soup. Special potion. He will be hungry when he gets back. Just enough for him,” she messaged the person, according to the documents,

Approximately two hours later the woman sent another message, “Hubby got back not feeling well. Maybe I can collect life insurance.” The poser responded, “Honey when will that be?” The woman replied, “Don’t know,” according to the court documents.

After 5 p.m. she called 911 for her husband. The report said he was unresponsive but breathing and had a cardiac history. Her husband was then taken to Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.

The woman also ended up wiring the poser about $4,000, she told NBC Boston.

Daughter becomes suspicious of mother

At the hospital, the Massachusetts woman's daughter became suspicious, police said.

The daughter contacted the Ayer Police Department, telling them she believed her mother poisoned her father, and had been in contact with someone posing as a soap opera star, who scammed her into giving them money, the filings stated.

The daughter went through the messages on her mother’s phone and took screenshots. Among them were messages about the soup, according to the court documents.

When the woman's husband regained consciousness, the daughter asked him what happened and he told her that her mother made him soup but that it wasn’t very good and that it tasted "bitter," court documents said.

The hospital did a toxicology test, which came back negative, court documents stated.

Woman's response to police questioning leads to arrest

When police spoke to the Townsend resident, she became aggressive, the court documents said.

The woman said that she thought she was talking to a Thorsten Kaye “and that she had always wanted to meet a star,” court documents said. She said that she would never harm her husband in any way and that she, "loves him very, very much," according to the filings. 

When two officers tried to take her into custody, she resisted and kicked at one of the officer's goin area, the filings said. The two officers then put her in handcuffs, and her phone and tablet were seized, the documents said. 

Ayer police arrested the woman on allegations of intimidating a police officer, resisting arrest and assaulting and beating a police officer.

Townsend Police Chief James Sartell told USA TODAY that the case was still under investigation and that the woman had not been charged, beyond the officer-assault allegations filed in Ayer.

Ayer police did not respond to requests for comment.

Court documents show that she was arraigned Dec. 4 and released on the condition that she have no contact with her daughter or her husband. In addition, she was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and follow-up treatment and to be confined to a home with GPS monitoring.

"[The woman] is charged with witness intimidation, resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer. This is an open and ongoing investigation," said Sarah Lamson, Communications & Events Liaison at Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in a statement to USA TODAY.

The woman's husband filed for a restraining order against her that was granted on Dec. 4.