"Jealous" Man Arrested for Poisoning Wife

Jen Chung

Published Oct 30, 2008

Modified Oct 30, 2008

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Jen Chung

Published Oct 30, 2008

Modified Oct 30, 2008

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The Suffolk County police say that David Steeves admitted to poisoning his estranged wife. Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said, "It all happened since he told her he was gay... He told us that he didn't want to see her with anyone else." On Oct. 18, Steeves apparently put cyanide (bought on the Internet) in Maureen Steeves' coffee and left the house. When he returned, she was on the floor and he brought her to the hospital. Two days later, he took their sons to England; police arrested him today at a bank near JFK Airport. Steeves' lawyer said his client was innocent, "He says the police roughed him up and forced him to give a confession." However, police say that Steeves "looked at Web sites that showed among other things if cyanide would show up in an autopsy." Maureen Steeves is still in the hospital; charges against him will likely be upgraded if she dies.