Engineer caught poisoning colleague with toxic cadmium on hidden camera

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 12 Oct, 23:50 · Archive

David Xu was caught on hidden camera putting cadmium in his coworker Rong Yuan's water bottle at a Berkeley laboratory over an 18-month period.

David Xu, a metallurgist at Berkeley Engineering and Research in California, poisoned colleague Rong Yuan's food and water with cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, over an 18-month period between 2017 and 2019. Yuan suffered debilitating symptoms including severe vomiting, hair loss, hospitalisation and fear of a terminal illness. Xu maintained a deceptive facade throughout, even suggesting her illness was caused by mold in the office. When Yuan emailed colleagues on 27 November 2018 to report severe vomiting and request a sick day, Xu responded with apparent concern: 'You should work from home until you feel better. No reason to rush in,' before adding, 'I think BEAR is moldy.'

In early 2019, Yuan set up a hidden camera at her desk after becoming convinced she was being deliberately poisoned. The footage captured Xu opening a small white container and pouring its contents into her water bottle. After recording two incidents in February and March 2019, Yuan handed the evidence to police. 'My blood was frozen,' Yuan told the San Francisco Standard of first watching the video. 'I almost died. I experienced death so, so close so many times.'

Xu was arrested in March 2019 on charges of attempted murder and poisoning. The poisoning also affected Yuan's parents, who had inadvertently consumed the contaminated water. After his arrest, Xu was released on 2 million dollars bail and his travel restrictions were eventually fully lifted.

In a plea bargain offered by the Alameda County District Attorney in late 2023, the attempted murder charges were dropped. Xu pleaded no contest to one count of poisoning and received two years' probation. At his sentencing hearing in 2024, the judge called the plea deal 'extremely generous, considering everything in this case.'

Yuan has now released the hidden-camera video as Xu seeks to have his felony conviction dismissed. According to Fox News, California law requires judges to grant such requests as long as the defendant meets the conditions of probation, though the District Attorney's office has objected. Yuan told the Standard that releasing the video was her 'last resort' to a legal system she believes has failed her.

How it is being reported

• Woman poisoned by coworker at Berkeley lab releases hidden-camera video as he seeks felony dismissalRong Yuan released hidden camera video appearing to show David Xu pouring a substance into her water bottle as he seeks to dismiss his felony conviction.Fox News · 12 Oct, 23:30
• Man caught on camera poisoning co-worker’s water bottle wants record cleared — for future employment‘I almost died. I experienced death so, so close, so many times,’ the woman poisoned by the chemical engineer saidIndependent World · 12 Oct, 17:14
• Berkeley engineer is caught on camera poisoning female colleague's drink before blaming her illnesses on mold in the officeA Berkeley engineer was caught on hidden camera poisoning his female colleague's water bottle with toxic cadmium after she suffered nearly two years of mysterious illnesses.Daily Mail · 12 Oct, 00:26
• Berkeley engineer caught on video poisoning coworker before she suffered horrific health problemsA California chemical engineer who pleaded no contest to poisoning a colleague was putting cadmium in her water bottle, new video shows.New York Post · 11 Oct, 17:45

In this story: David Xu · Rong Yuan · Berkeley Engineering and Research · Alameda County · California

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