A 63-year-old woman accused of poisoning her husband with selenium has told a Perth court she was only ever trying to improve his health and, subsequently, their marriage.
Bozena Knapinski is on trial in Perth District Court charged with five counts of unlawfully doing an act which as a result could endanger the life, health or safety of a person.
Bozena Knapinski.Credit: Heather McNeill
She denies any wrongdoing, but was charged after her husband of more than 40 years, Robert Knapinski, went to police with secretly recorded video footage of his wife allegedly putting a substance into his drink bottles without his knowledge.
Mr Knapinski told police he had suffered years of health issues that multiple doctors had struggled to get to the bottom of, but an extended trip overseas without his wife had seen those issues subside.
On Monday, Mrs Knapinski wiped away tears as state prosecutor Brett Tooker told the court about the couple’s turbulent marriage.
Tooker told the jury the couple had met and married in Poland before immigrating to Australia with their son.
“As the years progressed it became very unhealthy,” he told the jury.
“They argued a lot, and things became very bitter between them.”
The court heard Mrs Knapinski once left the relationship, but returned four months later. Another time, she moved to the upstairs of the house to separate herself from her husband, but was later encouraged to move back downstairs by family members.
The couple eventually divorced in 2024.
The court was told Mrs Knapinski worked two jobs and complained about doing the majority of the domestic chores while her husband did none.
But on Monday, she denied wishing to cause her husband any harm, instead claiming via her defence lawyer that she was putting selenium – which is toxic in large quantities – into her husband’s drink bottles to “make him more vibrant”.
Tooker claimed Mrs Knapinski initially lied to police about putting anything into her husband’s drinks.
However, her lawyer Michael Tudori told the jury she now accepted she did it without his permission, but said she was just “doing it to make him feel better”.
Tudori said Mr Knapinski was a “hypochondriac”, and was “always complaining about being unwell”.
“He went to numerous specialists, dozens of specialists, dozens of other practitioners, he complained about lots of issues including a rash on his neck and abdominal issues going back a decade,” Tudori told the jury.
“Mrs Knapinski was never going to separate from Robert. All she was trying to do was to get him better because their relationship was miserable.”
On Monday, the jury was shown screenshots of Mr Knapinski’s video recordings which allegedly showed Mrs Knapinski squeezing a clear fluid into his water bottles on five separate occasions.
The court was told that, upon suspecting his water had been tampered with, Mr Knapinski stored 13 bottles in his basement, which were seized and tested by police two days after his initial complaint.
Tooker said the jury would hear evidence from doctors who claimed Robert Knapinski was later found to be suffering from chronic selenosis, with blood tests allegedly revealing he had above the normal range of selenium in his system.
The trial continues.
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