Employee charged with murder in death of New York chiropractor

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A 60-year-old chiropractor in upstate New York, whose death last year was originally attributed to natural causes, was poisoned by her 23-year-old employee who has been charged with murder, police alleged on Tuesday.

Kaitlyn Conley of the small town of Paris, New York, is accused of using the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine to poison Mary Yoder, 60, Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol said.

Conley worked at Chiropractic Family Care, which Yoder and her husband owned and operated.

Yoder died in July 2015 from what appeared to be natural causes, Maciol said. But months later, a family member who suspected a crime requested an investigation, he said.

Conley was charged on Monday with second-degree murder, one count of forgery, two counts of falsifying business records and two counts of petit larceny, the sheriff’s department said.

An attorney for Conley could not immediately be identified.

After an autopsy of Yoder’s body, the local medical examiner ruled the women’s death a homicide by colchicine poisoning in December.

Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug commonly used to treat gout, can cause nausea, vomiting, respiratory problems and liver failure if taken in excess.

Maciol declined to say what led investigators to determine Conley had poisoned Yoder or what her motivation might have been, citing an ongoing investigation.

Yoder was poisoned on a single occasion, Maciol said.

Conley is scheduled to appear in Oneida County on a bond hearing on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)