Former Utah EMT Gets Jail Time for Trying to Poison Pregnant Girlfriend

Oct. 15, 2004
A former Bountiful firefighter and emergency medical technician has been sentenced to nine months in jail and probation for putting poison in his pregnant girlfriend's peanut butter sandwich.
FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) -- A former Bountiful firefighter and emergency medical technician has been sentenced to nine months in jail and probation for putting poison in his pregnant girlfriend's peanut butter sandwich.

Brandon B. Weaver, 24, was charged in March with criminal homicide for crushing a blood thinner prescription he took from a neighbor and putting it inside a sandwich he gave to his former girlfriend, who was then about 11 weeks pregnant with twins.

The woman ate a portion of the sandwich before throwing it away because it tasted funny.

The babies, a boy and a girl, were born in late August and are healthy, prosecutors said.

Shortly after he was arrested Weaver was diagnosed with bipolar mental illness, said his attorney, Jack M. Morgan. Weaver pleaded guilty in July to a lesser charge of surreptitious administration of a substance.

Davis County Deputy Attorney Steve Major said his office agreed to the plea negotiations because of Weaver's age, the remorse he has shown and the type of drug used in the sandwich.

``It was probably not as lethal as some other things, and it is unlikely to have caused much harm, but it still had the potential,'' Major said after the hearing.

``If there is anything good that came out of this, it is that Brandon has been able to identify his mental illness,'' Morgan said.

Judge Glen C. Dawson sentenced Weaver to serve the nine month jail term as part of his 36-month probation. Dawson also agreed to sign an order to ensure Weaver gets the medication and the therapy he needs while incarcerated.

Weaver told the judge, ``I made a big mistake. I hurt somebody I loved ... I will never, ever forgive myself.''

The judge also signed a protective order barring Weaver from any contact with his two children. Morgan said Weaver has not seen his children since they were born and wants to have a relationship with them.

Weaver was fired from his jobs as a part-time firefighter with Bountiful Fire Department and as an emergency medical technician at Lakeview Hospital following his arrest. He did not have a previous criminal record.

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