Connecticut woman pleads guilty to poisoning husband; gets 15 years in prison

(Original Post 9-14-08)
A wife plead guilty Friday to poisoning her husband with antifreeze, then hiring a hitman to try and kill him plead guilty to attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and inciting injury to a person. Jennifer Ratti, 28, from Coventry, CT plead in Judge Terence A. Sullivan's courtroom.

She was first arrested in April 2007, after her husband, Joshua Ratti, told Coventry police that he feared his wife was poisoning him.Joshua Ratti had been approached by one of his wife’s co-workers, who told him that Jennifer had been talking about killing him, Vernon State’s Attorney Matthew Gedansky said Friday.

Jillian M. O’Connor, 28 was approached in York Correctional Institution by Jennifer, which houses both prisoners convicted of crimes as well as those accused of them. O'Connor faces charges related to this case.

Joshua Ratti spoke during Friday’s proceedings in Vernon Superior Court, saying he had discovered that his wife was having an affair and had asked for a divorce. She then began to lace his sandwiches with rat poison and put antifreeze into beverages that she served him, he said.After approaching police, Joshua Ratti was taken to a hospital, where the determination was made that he had been poisoned, according to a police affidavit.

On March 30, 2007, Joshua Ratti called Coventry police and asked for a drug test, prosecutor Matthew Gedansky told the court. Ratti told police he hadn't been feeling well and thought his wife might be trying to poison him.

He ended up at the University of Connecticut Health Center, where ethylene glycol — an ingredient of antifreeze — was found in his system, Gedansky said. He suffered from renal failure, his mother later told the court. Although Jennifer Ratti initially denied involvement in her husband's illness, she eventually turned over containers of antifreeze and ant and roach killer, Gedansky said.

He said he has suffered from sleeplessness, nervousness, and a loss of quality of life since the incident. Because his wife tried to kill him multiple times, Joshua Ratti said, he fears for his life.

"Please accept this sentence, so I can try to get on with my life...I no longer feel safe. I don’t want to live in fear anymore because of what she did.”

A criminal restraining order prohibits contact between the victim and the defendant. The probable sentence will be 10 years in prison followed by 5 years of probation.

While Mr. Ratti found out that his wife could not be trusted, he had the support of his mother Deborah at the hearing, who told the court about more effects.

"He sleeps with a pistol at his bedside. He has been so tired from lack of sleep, she said, he twice dozed at the wheel and was involved in car accidents. Please enable my son to have a safe life back."

(Update 11-15-08) Judge Terence A. Sullivan rejected the plea deal stating that 10 years wasn't enough for the severity of the crime against Joshua Ratti. "I can't accept the sentence. It simply is not adequate to reflect the nature and the seriousness of the crimes. I've gone through this pre-sentence investigation report diligently. Unfortunately, each time that I read it, it doesn't get any better. It is a very striking description of what can only be described as a cold-blooded attempt to commit a murder."

The report, which is not a public document, indicates that the 28-year-old Ratti, a former Coventry resident, is "not remorseful" and "doesn't seem to care about what she's done," Ratti's public defender, Lisa Bennett, said. Bennett disagreed with the writer's conclusion, telling the judge that Ratti does understand the severity of what she has done. "She's absolutely remorseful for the harm she's done," Bennett said.

Jennifer Ratti said, "I want you to know how sorry I am. I wish I could take back what I did to you," but Judge Sullivan ordered Bennett and Tolland State's Attorney Matthew C. Gedansky to come back December 5, for either a longer sentence under a plea, or a trial if the plea is thrown out.

(Update 12-26-08) Jennifer Ratti was sentenced to 15 years in prison on December 5, and accepted the revised plea agreement even though it will cost her an extra 5 years in prison.