A Brooklyn woman with a notorious past faces attempted murder charges for allegedly trying to kill a Forest Hills woman with a piece of tainted cheesecake nearly two years ago in order to steal her identity, prosecutors announced on Feb. 28.
Victoria Nasyrova, 42, visited the then-35-year-old woman’s home on Aug. 28, 2016, and brought cheesecake with her as a gift. According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, the two women had previously met and shared very similar features: both had dark hair and the same skin complexion and spoke Russian.
Nasyrova, however, was there not to bond with her friend — but rather to steal her life, law enforcement sources said.
During their meeting, law enforcement sources said, the Forest Hills woman ate a slice of cheesecake that Nasyrova provided her, then soon began to feel ill. The last thing she remembered before passing out, prosecutors said, was Nasyrova sitting beside her.
The day after, prosecutors noted, one of the victim’s friends found her unconscious on her bed, dressed in lingerie, with pills scattered around her body. Authorities said Nasyrova allegedly set the scene up to make it appear as if the woman had attempted to kill herself.
Paramedics rushed the victim to a local hospital for treatment, and she made a recovery. When she returned home, Brown said, she realized that her passport, her employment authorization card, a gold ring and cash were missing.
During the investigation, law enforcement agents and the Department of Homeland Security recovered some of the cheesecake and tested it. They found that it had been laced with phenazepam, a drug developed by the Soviet Union in 1975 and commonly used today in Russia and other European countries to treat anxiety and other psychiatric and neurological disorders.
The FBI also determined that the pills on the victim’s bed were phenazepam tablets.
In March of 2017, the New York Post reported, police in Brooklyn arrested Nasyrova for allegedly scamming two men out of money and jewelry. She has been incarcerated ever since, and is also suspected of committing murder in Russia.
Nasyrova appeared in Queens Criminal Court on Feb. 28 for arraignment on a 10-count indictment in the cheesecake poisoning case, including second-degree attempted murder, first-degree charges of burglary, attempted assault, reckless endangerment and unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault, third-degree grand larceny, petit larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone Jr. ordered Nasyrova held without bail and to return to court on May 25. She faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted.
