ERRIN HAINES
Associated Press
ATLANTA - A Stockbridge, Ga., man is accused of poisioning the soup of his two small children and was planning to sue Campbell Soup Co. for their injuries, federal authorities said Thursday.
A federal grand jury indicted William Allen Cunningham on charges of tampering with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or serious bodily injury. Cunningham, 40, is also charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and communicating false statements that a consumer product had been tampered with.
According to investigators, Cunningham fed his 3-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter tainted soup on three different occasions in January. The children were taken to hospital emergency rooms.
On the third occasion, January 29, 2006, authorities said Cunningham used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline - both used to treat depression - to poison the children. On that occasion, his daughter was taken by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital.
Authorities said Cunningham poisoned the soup hoping to get money from the manufacturer, claiming the product was the cause of the children's sickness. U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Cunningham contacted New Jersey-based Campbell by mail and phone to complain, but there was no evidence that the soup was tainted when it was purchased.
