A jury on Tuesday convicted a Wisconsin woman of fatally poisoning her beautician friend's water with eye drops and stealing nearly $300,000 from her.
Jessy Kurczewski, 39, of Franklin, told investigators she gave Lynn Hernan a water bottle filled with six bottles of Visine in 2018, according to a criminal complaint. A Waukesha County jury found her guilty Tuesday of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of theft in connection with Hernan's death, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
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Kurczewski's attorneys did not speak with reporters following the verdict.
Hernan was found dead in her Pewaukee condo in October 2018 with crushed medication on her chest. According to a criminal complaint, Kurczewski called police and said her friend wasn't conscious or breathing. Kurczewski said she was a family friend and had been checking on Hernan daily. She had said there was a possibility Hernan was suicidal.
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The Waukesha County medical examiner ruled Hernan's death a homicide after discovering tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient in Visine, in Hernan's system.
When investigators told Kurczewski that Hernan was poisoned and the scene was staged to look like a suicide, she said it was what Hernan wanted and she must have staged her own suicide, according to the complaint. Kurczewski later told investigators she brought Hernan a water bottle loaded with six bottles' worth of Visine, according to the complaint.
Detectives also eventually concluded Kurczewski stole $290,000 from Hernan.
Kurczewski is set to be sentenced Dec. 7. The homicide charge carries a mandatory life sentence. The theft charges each carry a maximum five years in prison.
