Aili Wang, a 32-year-old microbiology graduate student from China, was arrested Oct. 6 at Los Angeles International Airport after prosecutors alleged she poisoned a Wyoming colleague’s tea and tried to leave for China after police questioned her. Wang remained jailed without bail in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the New York Post reported.
The colleague had pending patents and worked on disease-treatment technology, according to the Guardian and New York Post. Prosecutors allege Wang had conflicts with the colleague and that surveillance footage showed her searching through the colleague’s desk. Authorities seized laptops, electronic storage devices and documents that Wang had with her at the airport, the reports said. The New York Post reported that she was accused of purchasing acrylamide online.