Woman poisons lookalike with cake, steals passport

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian native was charged with poisoning a lookalike with a tranquillizer-laced cheesecake and then stealing her passport, cash and other property after trying to make it look like a suicide attempt, New York authorities said Wednesday.

“This is a bizarre and twisted crime that could have resulted in the death of a Queens woman, whose only fault was that she shared similar features with the defendant,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

The suspect, Viktoria Nasyrova, 42, of Brooklyn, was arraigned Tuesday on attempted murder, burglary, assault and other charges after being arrested in March 2017. Her lawyer, Barbara Byrne, declined to comment. In an earlier interview with

CBS, Nasyrova denied forcing the woman to eat the cheesecake.

In August 2016, Nasyrova, visited the Forest Hills, Queens, home of the 35-year-old victim bearing a gift of a cheesecake, said Brown. He added that both women have dark hair, the same skin complexion and speak Russian.

“The woman ate the cheesecake, fell ill and laid down,” Brown said. The following day, a friend found the victim unconscious in her bed, “dressed in lingerie with pills scattered around her body as if the woman had attempted to kill herself,” Brown said.

The woman was treated at a hospital and when she returned home she realized that her passport and employment authorization card were missing, along with a gold ring and cash.