A former Navy sailor who tried three times to poison his wife at their Dulzura home with a toxic metal that was formerly used as a rat poison and ant killer pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of premeditated attempted murder.
Race Remington Uto, 28, will be sentenced to 21 years to life in state prison on March 14.
Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, became involved in the case in March of this year, after doctors informed them that Uto’s wife Brigida was undergoing emergency medical treatment due to an “extreme level” of thallium in her system, according to sheriff’s Lt. Greg Rylaarsdam.
Medical staff and investigators believed the victim’s exposure to thallium was intentional, and Uto was arrested. Thallium is a highly toxic metal once widely used in insecticides, but that use is now banned in the United States.
At Uto’s arraignment earlier this year, Deputy District Attorney Paul Reizen said the defendant tried to poison his wife in August and December of 2017 and January of this year.
— City News Service
