Police: Retiree made ricin, tested it on neighbors

AP Photo/Lisa Rathke

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A woman who lives at a Vermont retirement community has been accused of making ricin and testing the deadly toxin on other residents by putting it on their food or in beverages over a period of weeks.

Investigators say Betty Miller told them she wanted to “injure herself” with the poison and was testing its effectiveness on others.

Investigators said in court documents filed Thursday in Burlington that Miller told them she made the ricin from castor bean plant seeds. She said she drove herself to a hospital on Monday to be evaluated.

Police were called to the Wake Robin senior living community in Shelburne on Tuesday. They said no other residents reported symptoms of ricin poisoning.

Miller was scheduled to be arraigned Friday. It wasn’t immediately known if she had a lawyer.