Exterminator Allegedly Exterminated Wife
SEATTLE (AP) A suburban Seattle pest control manager has been arrested for poisoning his wife with strychnine, a chemical commonly found in professional-grade rodent bait.
Bail was set at $5 million Thursday for 62-year-old Joseph A. Naimo. He was arrested Wednesday by Federal Way police for the death of his 53-year-old wife, Ann Marie. She died at their home Nov. 28 some time after Naimo called 911. On the call, he said his wife had become unresponsive after drinking alcohol and vomiting.
But after a pathologist in the King County medical examiner's office found strychnine in her system, detectives became suspicious. The chemical is widely used in Naimo's profession to kill pests. It's deadly to humans as well.
Joseph Naimo's three adult children are supporting their father, and burst into tears Thursday as the district court judge set bail.
Naimo is general manager of AAA Pest Control in Kent.
Investigators have not given a motive in the case.