Arizona newspaper publisher claims someone has tried to kill him with RAT POISON - but he refuses to say who

  • Joseph Soldwedel, CEO and co-owner of Western News&Info Inc., says he was poisoned with thalium earlier this year
  • Doctors found 15 times the average levels of the heavy metal in his body when he sought medical help after he started suffering severe symptoms
  • Police are investigating as it is unlikely Soldwedel would have come into contact with so much thallium accidentally
  • The publisher says he believes he has a 'good idea' who may have poisoned him
  • Thallium was once common in rat poison but the tasteless and odorless chemical was banned in the 1960s after it was used in multiple poisonings

The owner of an Arizona newspaper has revealed he was poisoned - and says he knows who was behind the plot to kill him.

Joseph Soldwedel, 65, who publishes the Daily Courier, told his newspaper that he had a 'good idea' who may have slipped him thallium - a deadly heavy metal formerly used in rat poison.

So far he has refused to name his alleged poisoner until the police finish their investigation, although he did rule out his close family as suspects.

No arrests have been made and cops declined to comment, the Daily Courier reports.

Joseph Soldwedel, who publishes the Daily Courier, told his newspaper that he had a 'good idea' who may have slipped him thallium - a deadly heavy metal formerly used in rat poison

Joseph Soldwedel, who publishes the Daily Courier, told his newspaper that he had a 'good idea' who may have slipped him thallium - a deadly heavy metal formerly used in rat poison

Soldwedel had gone to the doctors earlier this year when he began suffering severe symptoms of a mystery illness. 

Dr. Ernest P. Chiodo, a Michigan-based physician who specializes in forensic toxicology, discovered Soldwedel had 'elevated levels' of thallium in his system.

Dr. Hildegarde Staninger, a leading scientist in the field of industrial toxicology, concluded in Soldwedel's test results that the poisoning was not environmental. 

'The heavy metals are not caused by environmental factors, for there are significantly too high of values,' she wrote. 

Staninger believes that Soldwedel's food was being poisoned over a long period of time.  

'The findings and conclusions of this report... clearly illustrates that Mr. Joseph E. Soldwedel was exposed to a poison through ingestion,' she continued.

Thallium (pictured) is an odorless, flavorless substance which was once a common ingredient in rat poison in the US until it became so notorious as a murder weapon it earned the nickname 'inheritance powder

Thallium (pictured) is an odorless, flavorless substance which was once a common ingredient in rat poison in the US until it became so notorious as a murder weapon it earned the nickname 'inheritance powder

Staninger told the Courier, 'Many seasoned poisoners that utilize this type of thallium-based poison use low doses over time in food or drinks, and then administer an elevated fatal dose. I believe Mr. Soldwedel's food was being laced with the basis of heavy metals. Having 15 times the thallium reference level can kill you. I think he was very lucky. His will to live saved him.'

THE POISONER'S POISON: WHAT IS THALLIUM? 

Pure thallium is a bluish-white HEAVY metal. 

It was previously used in rat poison and today is mostly in manufacturing electronic devices and the manufacture of special glass.

Thallium has been called the 'poisoner's poison' since it's colorless, odorless and tasteless. 

It is also slow-acting, painful and has wide-ranging symptoms which can easily be mistaken for a host of other illnesses.

People can be exposed to thallium by eating food or drink poisoned with the chemical or breathing workplace air in industries that use thallium.

There is a cure for thallium poisoning; Prussian Blue which is taken orally.

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The mineral is an odorless, flavorless substance which was once a common ingredient in rat poison in the US until it became so notorious as a murder weapon it earned the nickname 'inheritance powder' or the 'poisoner's poison.' 

It was eventually banned as an ingredient in rodent poison in 1965 following several poisonings but it still imported and used today in electronics and optical lenses.

Chiodo said that people working in certain industries, such as mining or construction, could be expected to have higher levels of thallium, but a newspaper publisher should not.

Soldwedel's test results revealed that his thallium levels were 15 times higher than that of an average person. 

The results also revealed the presence of lithium, aluminum, barium and zinc — were found in his system. 

'The question is, what is causing him to have elevated thallium levels?' Chiodo said. 'I do not know that he's been intentionally poisoned, and I don't know who would be doing it, but based on my findings, the police should look into it.'

Soldwedel, a father-of-two, is the president, CEO and co-owner of Western News&Info Inc. multimedia company, which publishes the Kingman Daily Miner and Today's News-Herald in Lake Havasu City among others.

Soldwedel is the president, CEO and co-owner of Western News&Info Inc. multimedia company, which publishes the Daily Courier (pictured) among other titles 

Anyone who ingests thallium begins to feel the effects around 12-24 hours later, and symptoms get increasingly severe over the next couple of weeks.

People suffer nausea and vomiting, painful or burning sensations in the body's extremities, headaches, seizures, delirium, and in the most serious cases, respiratory failure, coma and death after five to seven days, according to the CDC.

The most famous case of thallium poisoning in recent years happened to 19-year-old student Zhu Ling in Beijing in 1995 who survived but was left partially paralyzed and nearly blind. No arrests were ever made.