The biggest things you typically have to worry about when bringing your lunch to work is whether someone will nab it from the office fridge or if your packed salad is going to suck by the time you have to eat it (it will). But a case out of Germany offers up a far more sinister possibility: one man is suspected of killing 21 co-workers by poisoning their lunches.
Per ABC News, authorities are investigating a 56-year-old man — “Klaus O.” — after his 26-year-old colleague found white powder on one of his sandwiches and reported it to his manager. And it’s a good thing he did, because:
The company then installed a CCTV camera in the lunch break room. On two more occasions, the footage allegedly showed the 56-year-old suspect opening his colleague’s lunch box and sprinkling something on the sandwiches during lunch breaks, police said.
When they searched Klaus’s home, police found chemicals like mercury, quicksilver, and lead. When they tested the white powder found on the sandwich from the initial report, they discovered lead acetate, which can cause organ damage.
Even more troubling is the fact that 21 of Klaus’s former co-workers have died under mysterious circumstances since 2000. The investigation has since expanded, as authorities attempt to determine if he was behind those poisonings as well.
