Joseph Soldwedel, publisher of the Prescott Daily Courier in Arizona, is accusing his estranged wife, Felice Magana, of poisoning him, in a lawsuit levied as part of a divorce battle.
Such “War of the Roses” type cases might be common in court, but Soldwedel’s use of his newspaper as a vehicle to broadcast his allegations brings journalistic ethics into the fray.
The Courier ran a story about the alleged poisoning in December 2017 without naming Magana, but an ad framed with images of skulls and rats did – along with her photo. The lawsuit came in June of this year.
Magana said Soldwedel is merely trying to get out of honoring their prenup, which promises her $900,000 if the couple gets divorced and $1 million if her husband dies. His lawsuit seeks $18 million in damages for civil assault, civil battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Testing of a hair sample submitted to a renowned toxicologist revealed extremely high levels of thallium. But a later test of the same sample by police showed methamphetamine – which conceivably could have been laced with thallium, since heavy metals sometimes make their way into the concoction, according to the Associated Press.
“The test findings are highly suggestive, but not confirmatory, of an intentional poisoning with an intent to kill,” Dr. Ernest P. Chiodo, who specializes in forensic toxicology, told The New York Daily News a year ago.
A prosecutor has said there was no evidence of a crime, so charges have not been filed – which brings the specter of defamation to the fore.
“It’s highly problematic for a publisher to be using the editorial resources of the paper to pursue a personal vendetta,” Edward Wasserman, dean of the graduate journalism school at the University of California, Berkeley told the Associated Press. “The whole thing is pretty bizarre because someone who is not the publisher would not get that kind of attention, absent law enforcement taking it seriously.”
