A young 23-year-old began to feel very ill in the summer of 2016 after wrapping up a shift at a German metal-fitting company and took himself to the hospital when he could not stop vomiting and barely could stand up.
Then, at age 26, he fell into a coma and suffered severe brain damage but the cause was identified much later as mercury poisoning.
Doctors then realized that the man had been ingesting lead acetate and mercury for years but no one was sure how he could come in contact with the toxin. That is, until two other co-workers fell ill in the exact same way.
The case came together in 2018 after one colleague at the company, ARI Armaturen, noticed a white powder on the bread during his lunch break.
Later, video surveillance were installed at the workplace which captured the suspect, Klaus O, 57, placing the substance on his colleagues’ sandwiches.
Klaus had been working at the factory for 38 years and was convicted of attempted murder as well as bodily injury in march in three cases after two other colleagues suffered kidney damage.
He has been sentenced to life in prison.