He Thought It Was Medicine. His Girlfriend Gave Him Drain Cleaner Instead

The 50-year-old man thought that his girlfriend was giving him his medicine. But when he drank the substance, it nearly killed him.

A woman in Utah tried to put her live-in boyfriend into an "eternal sleep" by giving him Drano on Monday night, police say. Elle Weissman, 43, is accused of deliberately poisoning her boyfriend with the toxic drain cleaner.

But then, she did something that police said was unexpected.

"She actually took him to the hospital, that's the weird thing," said Gary Keller, executive officer for the South Salt Lake City police department. "They got a ride-share and went to an urgent-care center."

According to a police department news release, Weissman admitted to the clinic's staff that she had given the man Drano. Police were called to the urgent care shortly before 9 pm on Monday night.

Keller said that the man was alive and still hospitalized, but may have "medical problems" as a result of consuming the Drano.

Weissman was taken into custody and is currently booked at the Salt Lake County Jail, where she was charged with attempted murder and surreptitious administering of a suspicious substance, both second degree felonies. The district attorney will formally charge her in coming days.