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Brigida Uto, a married mother-of-one, fell gravely ill in September 2017. Her situation worsened until she was hospitalized in a critical condition the following March. Doctors then determined that she had extreme levels of thallium, once widely used in rat poisons and insecticides, in her blood. The substance had caused the 28-year-old to lose all her hair, vision, and other senses, but she survived.
The husband, Race Uto, who served in the Navy, was implicated in the crime after local law enforcement combined with the FBI found The Poisoner's Handbook in his phone. The handbook described thallium as a deadly poison that kills a victim slowly. He pleaded guilty to three counts of premeditated attempted murder and was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison.
Dateline: Secrets Uncovered is scheduled to revisit Brigida Uto's survival story in an episode titled The Prussian Blue Mystery. The synopsis states:
"Young mom Brigida Uto loved running and chasing her toddler around, and when her health suddenly failed, doctors had to unravel a medical mystery to save her life; then, the FBI joined the confounding case and uncovered a sinister plot."
The upcoming episode airs on Oxygen this Thursday, July 20, at 8 pm ET.
Doctors traced lethal amounts of thallium in Brigida Uto's blood and gave her two weeks to live, but she survived
After marrying her high school sweetheart, Brigida Uto settled in rural East County, California, home with her husband, Race Uto, and their young son. Race was a Navy sailor as a third-class electrician’s mate assigned to Naval Base Point Loma. The couple had been married for three years.
It was in September 2017 when Brigida fell ill for the first time. Her condition worsened in the next few months. She suffered from severe hair loss, lost her vision, and lost most of her senses, including the ability to use her legs and hands.
The following March, the 28-year-old mother arrived at a San Diego Kaiser Permanente triage center. She was close to death. The doctors gave her two weeks to live and eventually detected fatal amounts of thallium, a poisonous substance that was once used in rat poisons and insecticides, in her blood. The metal has been banned in the country for years now.
This finding explained the young mother's condition to doctors, who were baffled by her mysterious sickness. She survived this "near-death" experience and predicament that she had been suffering from the fall of 2017 until the following Spring.
Brigida Uto's husband of three years had been lacing her food and drinks with thallium for months
An investigation initiated by local law enforcement and the FBI disclosed some shocking information about Race and Brigida Uto's marriage. Three weeks after she was admitted to the hospital, they found out that the husband had been poisoning the mother-of-one over the months while he was serving in the Navy.
The suspect had The Poisoner's Handbook downloaded on his phone, which was used to implicate him in the crime. The handbook mentioned in detail how thallium, a highly toxic metal, could slowly kill someone.
Race administered the first dose of the fatal substance in August 2017. He had been lacing her food and drinks. When the first dose failed to work, he used a higher dose in December and a dose five times higher than the previous ones in January 2018. He was arrested in March.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Race Uto pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted premeditated murder and was given three consecutive life terms for poisoning his wife over the course of several months. He will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of 21 years.
Race's defense attorney, Dan Cohen, informed the judge that he believed the pain caused by an injury he suffered at the Naval Academy in Annapolis "clouded his judgment." The sailor reportedly has an electronic implant to help with pain control.
The same report stated that El Cajon Superior Court Judge Robert Amador called the accused selfish and cruel for his actions "because you were having an affair and you wanted to get rid of your wife."
Learn more about the case on Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Thursday at 8 pm ET.
