Nov. 15 (UPI) — A Wisconsin woman was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree intentional homicide for killing a friend and dependent with a lethal dose of eye drops.
Jessy Kurczewski, 39, laced 62-year old Lynn Hernan’s water bottle with tetrahydrozoline, the active ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops, according to a Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office criminal complaint, and put enough of the chemical in Hernan’s water bottle that it killed her.
The death was initially ruled a drug overdose, which police say Kurczewski had staged by placing bottles of pills next to Hernan who was in her recliner chair, and then dusted Hernan’s shirt with crushed pills to create the illusion that Hernan had committed suicide in her Peawaukee home in October, 2018.
Kurczewski called police and told them Hernan was not responsive when she arrived for her caregiving shift and worried that Hernan was suicidal because of her chronic and debilitating medical conditions.
But police reopened the investigation in 2021 when a toxicology report found the lethal dose of tetrahydrozoline in Hernan’s blood. Kurczewski was arrested and charged in June of that year.
Kurczewski pleaded not guilty to first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of felony theft.
Kurczewski was Hernan’s confidant and caregiver, but reportedly bilked Hernan out of $300,000 over a two year period. She was also named in Hernan’s will, according to documents.
“Lynn Hernan became worth more dead than alive” to the defendant, Waukesha County Deputy District Attorney Abbey Nickolie told reporters following the verdict. “The defendant betrayed Lynn out of greed. This case highlighted the financial vulnerability of the victim and what a person would do to get what they want.”
Kurczewski broke down in tears as the verdicts were read in Waukesha County court. Neither she nor her defense team spoke publicly afterward.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 7. Kurczewski faces mandatory life in prison for the homicide charge. The felony theft counts each carry a maximum of five years in prison.
