George Trepal Murder Case George Trepal and his wife moved t

George Trepal Murder Case George Trepal and his wife moved to Alturas, Florida in the early 1980\'s Several years later, the Peggy Carr and her husband (with several adult children) moved into a house next door to the Trepal\'s. Trepal and the Carrs were involved in a number of altercations, including one incident in which Trepal threatened to kill one of the Carr children. The Carr\'s also received an unsigned letter threatening harm to their family if they did not leave Florida. In October of 1988, Peggy Carr began to suffer from a mysterious illness. She was admitted to the hospital and remained there for several days before being discharged. After discharge, Peggy\'s condition worsened, and she was readmitted to the hospital. Two other family members Travis Carr and Duane Dubberly also exhibited similar symptoms and were transported to the hospital. The doctor at the hospital suspected thallium poisoning based on the symptoms displayed. Within one day, thallium poisoning was confirmed. Peggy Carr\'s condition worsened, and she fell into a coma. She died when life support was disconnected in March of 1988. The thallium was traced to Coca-Cola that the family had been drinking. The subsequent investigation revealed that George Trepal, the neighbor, was responsible. Trepal had worked as a chemist in an amphetamine laboratory. Thallium was a by-product of amphetamine production. He was convicted and ultimately sentenced to death. Provide some background about this case in your presentation. Include how the thallium got into the Coca-Cola.

Solution

The target organs of thallium are central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, digestive tract and the hair follicles of the skin. When there is severe poisoning, there will be myocardial failure due to which the patient may die. Basically thallium gets accumulated in tissues with a high potassium concentration such as heart, muscle, peripheral and central nervous tissue. It impairs glucose metabolism and decreases ATP production. This results in cell death. This causes the following clinical effects.

The following are clinical effects of thallium poisoning: