"A former Lehigh University student accused of leaving racist graffiti for his roommate earlier this year is now accused of trying to kill the roommate by poisoning. Yukai Yang was arraigned Thursday morning on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, after he turned himself in with his attorney, Janet Jackson, present.
"At a news conference, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said the two men were roommates for several years and were seniors at the time of the incidents this past spring. Yang, a chemistry major at the time, is no longer a student at the university and his student visa has been revoked, prosecutors said. The roommate, Juwan Royal, graduated from Lehigh Morganelli said it appears the poisoning occurred over a few months, with small amounts of thallium
" 'Initially, Mr Royal was dumbfounded by this as everyone else, because he believed they had a fairly cordial relationship as roommates,' Assistant District Attorney Abe Kassis said.
"Police seized Yang’s computer and cellphone after the incident. * * * In an interview with investigators, Yang admitted to buying various chemicals on the internet, including thallium, with the intent to harm himself if he did poorly on future exams
"Yang, who turns 23 next week, was free on 10 percent of $10,000 bail in the graffiti case.
Note:
(a) Yang is from China. There is no Chinese-language news report about him yet.
(b) thallium 鉈 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallium
("Thallium, from [Ancient] Greek thallós, meaning "a green shoot or twig * * * The odorless and tasteless thallium sulfate was once widely used as rat poison and ant killer. Since 1972 this use has been prohibited in the United States due to safety concerns")