A Central Florida woman is accused of drugging a man she met through a dating app, authorities said.
According to Polk County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Samantha Adams, 39, of Orlando, was arrested on Aug. 27. The sheriff’s office said in a news release that Adams is facing felony charges of second-degree attempted murder, tampering with evidence, possession of oxycodone, possession of hydrocodone and possession of alprazolam.
Adams was also charged with several misdemeanors, including resisting without violence, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a new legend drug without a prescription and offering to commit prostitution.
“We refer to her as a black widow,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a video.
According to an arrest affidavit, Adams intentionally mixed benzodiazepine into the 69-year-old victim’s drink while at his residence in Haines City, WTVT reported. The victim told investigators that he believed she may have also poisoned him at least three other times at her home in Orange County, according to the television station.
According to the sheriff’s office, detectives began an investigation on Aug. 20 after the victim reported an unexpected medical incident from three days earlier.
The victim said he met Adams through a dating app and knew her only as “Nala,” investigators said.
Deputies said the victim and Adams had gotten into an argument at the man’s residence about a vehicle he bought for her, WTVT reported.
They added that Adams went to the kitchen with her purse and returned with two glasses of whiskey. The couple drank the liquor and “things progressed romantically,” but Adams stopped and allegedly told the victim that he needed to pay $1,000 to continue, the sheriff’s office said.
At that point, Adams left, investigators said.
Later in the evening, the victim passed out and was transported to an area hospital. Deputies said that medical staff determined he had overdosed on benzodiazepine, a drug he claimed he did not have at his residence.
“He said, ‘I don’t have any medicine like that. I don’t take any medicine like that,’” Judd said. “That’s how our investigation led to (Adams).”
The victim also claimed that Adams may have poisoned him on at least three other occasions at her residence in Orange County, the sheriff’s office said.
Adams was arrested in Davenport, west of Orlando, on Aug. 27. The sheriff’s office said she was in possession of a prescription bottle that contained 19 hydrocodone-acetaminophen pills, 2.5 pills of oxycodone hydrochloride, nine pills of Sertraline, one partial pill of Adderall, and a partial pill of Alprazolam-Xanax.
“It is possible that there could be more people out there who have been victimized by Samantha Adams,” Judd said. “Her motivation is money, and as we have seen with this case, she is willing to go to great lengths to get money-- including murder.”
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