An Arizona woman, who is the wife of a US Air Force employee, has confessed to poisoning her husband by repeatedly pouring a liquid that he believed to be bleach into a coffee machine. Melody Felicano Johnson was arrested in August and charged with attempting to murder her husband, Roby Johnson.
Despite filing for divorce, they continued to live together while the process was being finalized. Roby began to notice that his coffee tasted unusual, leading him to suspect that his wife was trying to kill him to claim his life insurance policy. Johnson now faces sentencing on May 10 and could potentially receive up to four years in prison.
Admitting Her Crimes
On Monday, Johnson pleaded guilty to two counts of poisoning food or drink, admitting that she had put bleach in her husband's coffee pot on both July 11 and July 18 of the previous year.
However, her sentence may be limited to time already served, as reported by 13 News.
Roby Johnson installed a series of hidden cameras inside their home, and the footage was obtained by ABC News on Friday.
One camera caught Melody in the laundry room, pouring bleach from a large bottle into a small container. Another camera recorded her glancing over her shoulder as she poured liquid into the coffee machine in their kitchen.
Roby Johnson also filmed himself testing the water inside the coffee machine using a swimming pool chemical test kit. He showed the results on camera, revealing an extremely high level of chlorine in the water, which he noted "stinks" of bleach.
Melody Johnson is currently held in custody, with the judge ruling her a flight risk due to her recent purchase of a house in the Philippines. She has not entered a plea and is set to appear in court again on November 6.
She was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree attempted murder, attempting to commit aggravated assault, and poisoning food or drink.
Dangerous Plan
Johnson was stationed in Germany for work in March 2023 when he began to notice that his coffee tasted "very bad." His wife used to prepare his coffee the night before, so in the mornings, he only needed to turn the machine on.
According to the report, he continued to pretend to drink the coffee but did not file a police report until he returned to the Davis Monthan Air Force Base in the US in July.
After gathering all the footage, Johnson returned to the police and presented them with his evidence.
The police then arrested Melody at their home, and a search warrant indicated that the coffee pot emitted a bleach-like odor.
Moreover, documents disclosed that the husband suspected she was attempting to kill him "to collect death benefits."
