Monroe Woman Found Guilty of Fatally Poisoning Her Husband

A Monroe Township woman was found guilty of fatally poisoning her husband and providing false information to police during the ensuing investigation, Acting Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced Tuesday evening.

Tianle Li, 44, was found guilty in connection with the death of her husband, Xiaoye Wang, 39. Wang was a software engineer who lived with Li on Stanley Drive in Monroe, Carey said.   

She was also found guilty of hindering apprehension and prosecution by denying she had access to the poison, identified by an FBI expert as thallium, used to kill Wang, Carey said. Li allegedly obtained the thallium from Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she was employed for 10 years, Carey said.

The couple was in the middle of a divorce, and was involved in a series of domestic disturbances as far back as April, 2009, Carey said.

Thallium is a highly toxic metal. Li allegedly poisoned her husband with a steady dose of the thallium between Nov. 16, 2010 and Jan. 26, 2011.

Wang was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms on Jan. 14, 2011, and died on Jan. 26 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.

On Jan. 25, a series of tests revealed Wang had been poisoned. An investigation was opened the day Wang died, and investigators claim Li initially deceived them that same day.

Members of the New Jersey State Police Hazardous Materials Unit and the Middlesex County Hazardous Materials Unit determined no one else was exposed to the substance, Carey said.

Li was arrested following the murder by Lt. Jason Grosser of the Monroe Township Police Department and Investigator Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. She has remained in custody ever since. She is expected to be sentenced to between 30 years and life in prison on Sept. 30.

A jury of six men and six women in New Brunswick entered deliberations on July 2, and deliberated for about two hours on Tuesday before finding Li guilty, Carey said.

During the deliberation process, one juror was dismissed after citing financial hardship, according to Carey. Judge Michael A. Toto assigned a replacement juror and ordered deliberations begin anew.