Viktoria Nasyrova found guilty of giving friend cheesecake laced with Russian drug
NEW YORK -- A Queens woman charged with giving her friend a cheesecake laced with a Russian drug in order to steal the woman's identity was found guilty Wednesday night.
Viktoria Nasyrova was convicted of attempted murder and four of the five other charges against her.
Prosecutors say in August 2016, Nasyrova visited Olga Svyk's home with a "cold and calculated plan."
"To isolate Olga Svyk, to get her alone in her room, to poison her, to try to kill her, and to take her identity," Queens Assistant District Attorney Konstantinos Litourgis said during opening statements.
The DA said Nasyrova brought one as a gift to thank Svyk, an eyelash technician, for helping her with an "eyelash emergency" at her Queens home.
It was a cheesecake, allegedly laced with a powerful toxin only found in Russia, Nasyrova's home country.
"In those moments, she immediately gets sick. She starts to vomit. She starts to feel awful, and she starts to get worse and worse and worse. And the evidence will show the defendant did not stick around," Litourgis said.
The next day, Svyk was found by a friend unconscious in bed, with pills scattered around. She later discovered valuable items were missing.
"Almost $4,000 in cash, a red purse, a cherished ring, and, most importantly, her Ukrainian passport and her U.S.-issued employment authorization card," Litourgis said.
When Nasyrova was arrested in March of 2017, police allegedly recovered some of these items.
The DA said she was desperate to never return to Russia, where she's wanted for a 2014 murder. She first came on the NYPD's radar after allegedly drugging and robbing men in Brooklyn she met on dating websites.
Nasyrova now faces up to 25 years in prison.