A cancer researcher who survived an attempt on his life testified about the cup of coffee that he says nearly killed him. Prosecutors say the coffee was laced with antifreeze and was given to him by a former girlfriend. INSIDE EDITION explains.
Dr. George Blumenschein choked up as he testified his obsessed lover poisoned his coffee.
Dr. Blumenschein said, “It's just hard reliving this.”
An attorney in the court asked, “What is so hard about reliving this part?”
“Because I almost died,” he said.
Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo is a world-renowned cancer specialist, but now she's accused of spiking his coffee with the chemical found in anti-freeze.
Dr. Blumenschein said, “It was very, very sweet.”
An attorney asked, “Did you ask the defendant about it?”
“I did. I said, ‘What's up with the coffee? It's really sweet.’ She said, ‘Oh, I put Splenda in it.’”
The victim, Dr. Blumenschein, said that after they had coffee her house that morning they had sex.
“We fooled around,” he said.
An attorney asked, “How do you go from coffee to fooling around?”
“I don't have a good answer to that,” he said.
Prosecutors say Dr. Gonzalez was worried that Dr. Blumenschein was going to end their affair and furious that he wouldn’t leave his live-in girlfriend.
The two doctors both work at the world famous MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, considered one of the nation's best cancer research hospitals.
Pooja Lodhia is covering the trial for KTRK-TV. She told INSIDE EDITION, “You're talking about a love triangle here. Yet, nobody seems surprised. It seems the three people all knew each other, knew about each other. It's something of a strange situation there.”
Prosecutors are comparing her with the crazed Glenn Close character in the movie Fatal Attraction.
The prominent breast cancer researcher was featured in a documentary. In it, she was shown treating patients and conducting research and also relaxing at her home in Houston, where prosecutors say the poisoning took place.
Dr. Blumenschein says he took a few sips of coffee with breakfast that morning. He brought a travel mug of the coffee with him to the hospital and he drank another cup. He almost died when the poison severely damaged his kidneys, but survived to accuse his former lover.
An attorney asked Dr. Blumenschein, “Is it hard to look at her?”
He replied, “Yes.”
After he recovered, Dr. Blumenschein taped phone conversations with his former lover which were played in court.
In one conversation, he said to her, "We were good friends and we worked well together."
Dr. Gonzalez-Angulo replied, "Yeah. We fooled around. I feel pretty used, and I feel completely betrayed."
Lodhia said, “Every single member of the jury has been on the edge of their seats. They’re dying to see what happens next!”
Dr. Gonzalez-Angulo lawyers insist she's not guilty. If convicted she faces up to life in prison.
