A woman has been convicted of trying to kill a beautician with poisoned cheesecake in order to steal her identity.
Viktoria Nasyrova, 47, took the dessert to the woman’s New York City home during an eyelash appointment in August 2016.
Nasyrova is said to have eaten two pieces of the cheesecake before offering the third piece to Olga Tsvyk, 35.
Ms Tsyvk, who survived the incident, was found in a coma by her landlord – prosecutors said Nasyrova had scattered pills around her body to make it look like a suicide before taking her passport and valuables.
The cheesecake was later found to contain a potent sedative called phenazepam. Nasyrova was arrested after her DNA was found on the box.
The trial was told the two women look similar, with dark hair and similar skin tones.
Queens district attorney Melinda Katz said jurors had seen “through the deception and schemes of the defendant”.
“She laced a slice of cheesecake with a deadly drug so she could steal her unsuspecting victim’s most valuable possession – her identity.
“Fortunately, her victim survived and the poison led right back to the culprit.”
A man also testified that Nasyrova had poisoned him with fish at her apartment after they met on a dating app.
Ruben Borukhov said he passed out within minutes and later found his watch had disappeared and thousands of dollars of charges had appeared on his credit card.
Before her arrest, Nasyrova was also on Interpol’s red list after being accused of fleeing Russia for killing her neighbour in 2014.
She was allegedly caught on CCTV with the woman’s body in the passenger seat of her car.
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Nasyrova denied that allegation in a 2017 interview with CBS and claimed the images were fake and that she was framed by police.
She also told the New York Post she had worked as a dominatrix in New York – and suggested the cheesecake incident was food poisoning.
Nasyrova faces 25 years in jail when she’s sentenced next month.