DEATH BY POST

THESE PACKAGES CAME WITH A SINISTER TWIST

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A FATAL TREAT

When a judge sentenced New York University professor Dr John Buettner-Janusch to jail for making illegal drugs in the school's laboratory, the disgraced academic waited out his sentence patiently. After five years behind bars he took his revenge.

Once a world-renowned anthropologist, Dr Buettner-Janusch had contributed to academic journals and given lectures to packed auditoriums, but following his conviction his career was in tatters. So just before Valentine's Day in 1987, he sent the judge who had put him in jail a dangerous 'thank-you' gift.

Dr Buettner-Janusch, then 63, posted a box of expensive Godiva chocolates laced with poison to the home of Judge Charles Brieant.

They arrived with a card signed with a question mark. Unfortunately the luxury chocolates were opened by the Charles' wife, Virginia, who became violently ill and collapsed after eating just four pieces.

Virginia was rushed to hospital where it was found she had ingested atropine and sparteine, substances which induce delirium and hallucinations. For several days, her life was in danger - but she survived.