Washington Woman Found Guilty In Plot To Kill Ex-Husband With Rat Poison

A Washington woman is facing prison time for an alleged plot to kill her ex-husband with rat poison, according to the Skagit Valley Herald.

Reporters said 37-year-old Vanessa Valdiglesias-Lavalle, of Mount Vernon, was also found guilty of solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit first-degree assault with a noxious substance on April 9.

Rich Weyrich, the Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney, noted that Valdiglesias-Lavalle and the ex-husband were in the midst of a divorce. On top of that, the mother lost custody of their two sons and had to start paying child support by June 2020, the Herald wrote.

On June 3, 2020, Valdiglesias-Lavalle and the boys reportedly visited the ex-husband. The mother pulled the oldest of the boys away, who was turning 11, and tried to convince him to put "venom" the ex-husband's food and drink, reporters said.

"Valdiglesias-Lavalle told her son that once his father was dead, she and the boys would be able to live together forever,"

The conversation, however, was recorded on the son's cellphone, prosecutors said. The boy reportedly revealed this recording to his best friend's mother, who alerted authorities about the situation. Jurors also watched and listened to the recording, reporters added.

Skagit Valley Herald said a sentencing date should be set within the next week. The mother faces 15 years in prison with the opportunity to earn early release.

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