Appetite...for Murder

Spanish Chef Accused of Poisoning Ten of His Fellow Cooks

Don't trust the toque.
Don’t trust the toque. Photo: iStockphoto

The view may be fantastic at the El Lavaderu restaurant in Gijon, Spain, but an unnamed assistant chef there is allegedly an aspiring murderer. (Not cool, unnamed assistant chef.) Police have arrested the 55-year-old on the suspicion he’s been poisoning his colleagues on the line with calcium cyanamide — perhaps even over a lengthy time period. The Telegraph reports that at least one of the poisoned, nauseous cooks figured something was up when the chef’s girlfriend, who worked alongside them in the Asturian restaurant, was the only other staff member who did not fall ill. The assistant cook now faces fourteen counts of attempted murder, and is also being investigated in connection with the sudden death of the restaurant’s former head chef, who suffered a fatal heart attack in 2011. It gets worse, too: In addition to all that, authorities say the restaurant’s former owners were afflicted with strange maladies that resolved after they’d moved on from the premises. [Telegraph UK via Eater]

Spanish Chef Accused of Poisoning Ten of His Fellow Cooks