Businessman Stephan Wagner arrested for allegedly poisoning his wife’s tea with insecticide in Sydney’s southwest

Semi-retired IT professional Stephan Wagner has been charged with poisoning his wife by spiking her tea with Ant-Rid. He will spend at least two months behind bars on remand after facing court.

A semi-retired IT professional charged with the attempted murder of his wife by allegedly spiking her tea with Ant-Rid will remain behind bars on remand for at least the next two months.

Stephan Wagner, 61, did not apply for bail and it was formally refused during a brief mention of his matter in Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday.

Wagner, dressed in a red jumper with a blue collared shirt, appeared on screen in court via video link and only spoke to confirm his name when asked by the magistrate.

His lawyer, Rylie Hahn-Hamilton from Marsdens Law Group in Campbelltown, declined to comment when approached by media.

Police allege 66-year-old Glenda Wagner became seriously ill after drinking the tea at a home on Lanark Place in St Andrews, which police claim was prepared by Wagner.

Police allege Wagner used the common household insecticide Ant Rid to poison his wife over a two-year period between 2022 and 2024.

Stephan Wagner. Picture: Supplied

Officers from Campbelltown City Police Area Command launched Strike Force Southport in September to investigate the incident.

Wagner was arrested at his St Andrews home on Tuesday morning, with police seizing a bottle of insecticide for forensic testing.

Wagner was arrested on Tuesday at the St Andrews home he’s lived in for almost 30 years, where police seized a bottle of insecticide for forensic testing.

According to property searches, Mr Wagner owned the property with his wife, and his children grew up in the home.

He was taken to Campbelltown Police Station where he was charged with cause poison etc to be taken with intention to murder (DV), use poison etc so as to endanger life (DV), and use poison etc so as to inflict grievous bodily harm (DV).

Wagner will appear in Campbelltown Local Court today charged after a woman was allegedly poisoned. Picture: NSW Police

Wagner was then remanded in custody overnight and refused bail to appear before court on Wednesday.

His case was adjourned to December for police to begin serving their brief of evidence, while Magistrate Clare Farnan put an apprehended domestic violence order in place prohibiting Wagner from having any contact with his wife.

Investigators search a St Andrews residence as part of Strike Force Southport, launched to probe the alleged tea poisoning. Picture: NSW Police

One of Wagner’s neighbours said he spoke to him just “a couple of days ago” asking about his wife since they hadn’t seen her around for a couple of months.

“I noticed that for a while, the wife was missing, like not getting out of the door. You know, she usually would come here and get the dog around, so I just asked out of neighbourly curiosity, what’s happening,” he said.

He said Wagner told him his wife had an “autoimmune disease” and she had left to “get cured”.

“He said...she went to Orange to see her sister and stay there and get well. And I mentioned if it is related to covid. He said, ‘let’s not make assumptions’.

The neighbour said he wanted to find out if there’s anything he could do to help since he had faced an autoimmune condition himself previously, but said Wagner seemed unwilling to chat about the issue any further.

Prior to the allegations coming to light about Wagner, his neighbour said they had pleasant interactions, even taking turns helping take the bin out for each other.

“We haven’t lived here long but we never heard any arguments or anything,” he said.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Wagner worked as a regional manager for AusIndustry, the federal government’s department for industry, innovation and science, for almost 10 years before retiring in March 2023.

Prior to that, he was an account manager for IT manufacturing company Ciena for two-and-a-half years, and also lectured part-time at Western Sydney University.

His lengthy career includes stints at Optus, Nokia, Telstra, the CSIRO and the Australian Army, as well as completing an Master of Business Administration in 1997.

In a blurb spruiking his credentials, Wagner wrote “over the past 40 years, Stephan has created significant business success in commercial leadership and senior sales (B2B, wholesale and retail) management roles in the innovation and ICT industries”.

He lists passion for “Australian innovation success” among his key attributes and outlines several multi-million deals he has had a hand in during his working life, including saving Optus $5m in implementing what he refers to as a “network simplification” program.

Wagner is well-known businessman, who has worked for the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, the University of Western Sydney as a lecturer and the CSIRO.

The 61-year-old “semi-retired” last year, and has been taking part in orienteering competitions and charity runs.

Wagner has been refused bail to appear before Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday.

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Originally published as Businessman Stephan Wagner arrested for allegedly poisoning his wife’s tea with insecticide in Sydney’s southwest