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Vazquez arraignment Tuesday

Judge will be Thomas L. Ray

By CHRIS CLINE\Daily Journal Staff Writer

FARMINGTON - A Bonne Terre woman who authorities say poisoned one of her friends in order to get closer to the victim's husband will have her first day in court on Tuesday. Tina Vazquez, 33, Bonne Terre, is scheduled to be arraigned in front of Associate Circuit Court Judge Thomas L. Ray on Tuesday morning at the St. Francois County Court House.

Vazquez was arrested early Monday morning and has been charged with assault in the first degree in connection with the poisoning. The charge carries a range of punishment between 10 years to 30 years or life imprisonment inside a state penitentiary.

St. Francois County Prosecutor Wendy Wexler-Horn said she did not charge Vazquez with attempted murder because it would be harder to prove in court.

Wexler-Horn said Vazquez could still face life in prison with the first-degree assault charge.

The arraignment is the first step in the judicial process. A formal reading of the charges takes place in the presence of the defendant, to inform the person of the charges against him or her. After that, the accused typically enters a “guilty” or a “not guilty” plea to the charges in front of the judge. Arrangements are then made for the accused to obtain an attorney. The accused can hire a private attorney or seek a public defender.

Vazquez is accused of poisoning Angie Hausler of Bonne Terre at the victim's home on Saturday. Her husband Brian Hausler has said he believes that Vazquez was poisoning his wife for months with fountain sodas she would bring over at lunch time.

Police records allege Vazquez poisoned Hausler by putting sodium nitrite inside an antibiotic pill that was given to the victim, who had been feeling ill.

In court papers, Vazquez admitted to switching the substance inside the capsules with sodium nitrite, a chemical is used in small amounts to cure meat. It is potentially lethal if a large amount is ingested. Investigators believe Vazquez got the chemical from her job at a meat company.

Police say the woman poisoned Hausler so that she could give herself some time alone with Hausler's husband.

After taking the pill, family members say Angie Hausler collapsed. She was taken to an emergency room and eventually transported to a St. Louis hospital for treatment. Hausler was treated with an antidote for sodium nitrite and has been released.

Vazquez is being held at the St. Francois County Jail on a $50,000 bond. She has so far declined to comment to the media.

Her mother, Linda Killian, is caring for Vazquez's 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. Killian has told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her daughter has never been in trouble with the law.