Racine County man accused of poisoning wife with Visine
RACINE COUNTY, Wis. —A Burlington man has been putting Visine into his wife's beverages, causing her to have symptoms of low energy, diarrhea and blurry vision, a criminal complaint filed this week said.
Darin Tiedt, 45, faces more than 10 years in prison and more than $30,000 in fines if convicted.
According to the charging document, Tiedt's wife confronted him after she noticed him putting something in her Diet Coke using a eye drop bottle. Tiedt denied the accusation, the complaint said, but then proceeded to grab her by the throat and choked her, stopping only when he was pulled off by their son.
Tiedt's wife told a detective that she'd told her husband about a month prior to the incident that she'd wanted a divorce. Soon afterward, she said she began feeling unwell, the complaint said.
Visine contains the chemical tetrahydrozoline, which can cause blood pressure problems, blurred vision and nausea and vomiting, among other symptoms.
"Potentially a small amount could affect someone, and it really depends on how big the person is, so a small child would potentially need less than an adult would," said Dr. Stephanie Schroter of the Wisconsin Poison Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.
The couple's children said their father had warned them about avoiding their mother's drinks and spoke to them about "sharing drinks," the complaint said.
Tiedt is charged with one count of strangulation and suffocation, one count of misdemeanor battery, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of placing foreign objects in edibles.
He is out of jail on bail. His wife has a restraining order against him now.