Indian-American businessman who spiked girlfriend's drink with abortion-inducing drug sentenced to 22 years in prison
An Indian-American businessman was sentenced to 22 years in prison by a court in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, after he was found guilty of trying to poison his pregnant girlfriend's drink with an abortion-inducing drug. 45-year-old Manishkumar Patel was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child this past August, with his sentencing bringing closure to a case that's been ongoing since 2007.
According to the Daily Mail, Patel, who is married, began an affair with physician Darshana Patel in 2001. In 2004 they had a son together, and in 2006, she became pregnant again. In 2007, after she became pregnant for the third time, Patel hatched a plan to spike Darshana's drink with mifepristone, a medication which, when used in combination with misoprostol, can cause an abortion.
She told authorities she became suspicious after she watched Patel stir a smoothie at an ice cream store before giving it to her. She says she noticed a powdery substance on the rim of the cup and sent it to a lab for testing, faking a stomach ache to avoid downing the milkshake.
When the lab results came back, the substance was found to be RU-486, better known as mifepristone. While she did not ingest any of the drug, she would end up miscarrying the baby a few weeks later and filed a criminal complaint against the 45-year-old in November 2007. A search of Manishkumar apartment resulted in the authorities finding an envelope containing the RU-486 pills, and the businessman confessed to obtaining the drugs back in India and giving Darshana one of the pills.
Patel's bail was set at $750,000, which friends and family managed to put together to get him released. However, he made a run for it and authorities believed he fled back to India. About 10 years later, he flew to Toronto, Canada, and law enforcement began working towards apprehending him.
The Customs and Border Patrol ended up arresting him in Bangor, New York, in January 2017 after they became suspicious of an alien-smuggling attempt and found Manishkumar was a fugitive from justice, wanted on homicide charges.
Following his arrest, he was reportedly held on seven felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child, stalking, burglary, and jumping bail. This time around, presiding Judge Brian Figy would impose a $50 million bail, citing the unusual nature of the case, as well as Manishkumar's previous attempted escape, as the reason for setting such a high bond.
During his hearing, Manishkumar said he did not want to have another child because he was afraid it would be born with the same medical problems as his son, but that he later realized that even if the child had medical issues, it would still have had a life.
Ultimately, Wisconsin's incredibly tough laws against harming fetuses — since 1998, the state has ruled that "the killing of an unborn child" at any stage of pre-natal development is first-degree intentional homicide — saw him sentenced to 22 years behind bars.