A Perth wife accused of trying to secretly poison her husband to death has had her trial vacated at the eleventh hour after prosecutors realized the solution she was spiking his water with is not capable of killing someone.
Bozena Knapinski, 63, was due to stand trial on Monday in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, accused of the attempted murder of her husband of 39 years, Robert Knapinski, 63.
Bozena Knapinski is accused of trying to murder her husband by poisoning him.Credit: Rebecca Peppiatt
Instead, prosecutors revealed they had changed their case against the accused on Friday, dropping the attempted murder charge and amending it to four counts of doing an act likely to cause harm.
It came after some confusion over the differences between organic selenium and non-organic selenium, one being more toxic than the other.
Knapinski’s lawyer Michael Turdori told media outside court that the last minute change in the facts by the prosecution had delayed the trial.
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“The selenium they allege she was giving her partner could never have caused his death,” he said.
Judge Amanda Forrestor said she had no choice but to vacate the trial to allow the defense an opportunity to review the amended toxicology position.
Knapinski was arrested in April 2023 after her husband set up covert cameras after noticing his water bottles had a chemical smell to them.
