Raelene Polymiadis, daughter of Brenda and Lynton Anderson, charged with murder over alleged fatal poisoning of parents
The 62-year-old daughter of a couple alleged to have been poisoned a year apart has been charged with two counts of murder over their deaths.
Police & Courts
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The daughter of an elderly couple who police believe were fatally poisoned a year apart has been charged with murder over her parents’ deaths.
Raelene Polymiadis, 62, was arrested on Tuesday morning in relation to the alleged drug toxicity murders of Brenda and Lynton Anderson.
Police allege both died from drug overdoses after being deliberately administered medication.
Mr and Ms Anderson were both 94 when they died a year apart, in 2022 and 2023.
On her LinkedIn account, Ms Polymiadis lists her occupation as “aged carer”.
The account further states that, since April 2016, she has worked as an “administrative officer and dental assistant”.
In Mr Anderson’s death notice, published in The Advertiser on May 17 this year, Ms Polymiadis is listed as one of the couple’s children alongside siblings Julie, Faye, Graham and Gary.
Police launched an appeal for public information last Thursday, saying Brenda Anderson was being treated for medical issues at Noarlunga Hospital in 2022, before was transferred to Flinders Medical Centre on March 12 when her condition deteriorated. She died on March 15.
Her husband, Lynton, was found by a carer to be unconscious at his home address at Hackham on April 30, 2023. He was taken by SA Ambulance to the Flinders Medical Centre and died the following day.
Police say toxicology results for both Mr and Mrs Anderson have led them to believe they were both murdered by the same person.
The results revealed prescription medication that had “no reason to be in their system”.
Police are appealing to anyone that may have had contact with the couple and may have knowledge of their deaths and the circumstances that led to them – in particular, anyone that may have knowledge of prescribed or non-prescribed medications each were using or had spoken about.
Detectives said there was no concerns over the level of care from either hospital.
A death notice for Mr Anderson in The Advertiser said he was a father or father-in-law of eight children, a grandfather of seven and great-grandpa of nine.
Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said police believed Brenda was murdered by a person in a close enough relationship with her to have been visiting her in hospital.
Police believe that whatever led to Brenda’s death occurred while she was in hospital.
“Mrs Anderson’s hospital death was identified during the coronial investigation process after toxicology results gave significant rise for concern,” Det Insp McEachern said.
“When an innocent explanation for toxicology abnormalities was eliminated, the possibility that Mrs Anderson’s death was a deliberate act by another party became the primary subject of the investigation.”
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