HLS
08-Jul-2006, 02:29 PM
Police: Dad Feeds Kids Tainted Soup To Get Campbell's Payout
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/9481632/detail.html
ATLANTA -- Three times in January, the young brother and sister were taken to hospital emergency rooms.
All three times, investigators say, their father fed them tainted soup in a scheme to sue the Campbell's Soup Co.
Now, William Allen Cunningham, 40, was charged with tampering with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or serious bodily injury. He also was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and communicating false statements that a consumer product had been tampered with.
The children are a 3-year-old boy and an 18-month-old girl. On the third occasion, investigators said, the girl became so ill she had to be flown by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital. Investigators said her soup was laced with two drugs used to treat depression.
Prosecutors said Cunningham wanted to get money from the manufacturer by claiming its soup caused his children's illnesses. Cunningham contacted Campbell's by mail and phone to complain, but there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased. If convicted, Cunningham could face up to 75 years in prison.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the children's health Friday
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/9481632/detail.html
ATLANTA -- Three times in January, the young brother and sister were taken to hospital emergency rooms.
All three times, investigators say, their father fed them tainted soup in a scheme to sue the Campbell's Soup Co.
Now, William Allen Cunningham, 40, was charged with tampering with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or serious bodily injury. He also was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and communicating false statements that a consumer product had been tampered with.
The children are a 3-year-old boy and an 18-month-old girl. On the third occasion, investigators said, the girl became so ill she had to be flown by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital. Investigators said her soup was laced with two drugs used to treat depression.
Prosecutors said Cunningham wanted to get money from the manufacturer by claiming its soup caused his children's illnesses. Cunningham contacted Campbell's by mail and phone to complain, but there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased. If convicted, Cunningham could face up to 75 years in prison.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the children's health Friday