A woman in Florida who killed her elderly roommate doused herself in a fizzy drink in a bid to remove her victim’s DNA from her body, according to the police.
Nichole A. Maks, 35, allegedly stabbed her elderly roommate Michael Cerasoli to death in Daytona Beach, in the US in Florida.
Covered in blood, the Florida woman was given additional charges after she reportedly asked the police for a Diet Mountain Dew fizzy drink before proceeding to pour it “all over herself” in a bid to remove forensic evidence from her body, the Daytona Beach police said.
She was charged with tampering with evidence and resisting arrest with violence, as well as premeditated murder in the first degree in connection with the death of 79-year-old Cerasoli on 5th August.
Firefighters had been called to the smouldering home shortly before 2am on 1st July.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s office said that clothes on the second floor had been set on fire.
After quickly putting out the blaze, the firefighters found the victim lying face down in a room covered in blood.
The police determined that he had suffered blunt force trauma to his head as well as stab wounds to his chest.
The landlord said that Maks was the other tenant in the house, but she had apparently fled the scene.
A little less than two hours later, the police found her nearby, barefoot, with blood on her leg and a ripped shirt.
The police said that after they approached her, she “dropped a knife and a hammer” in front of them.
After at first denying living at the house and knowing the victim, she eventually admitted that she did live there and had seen the victim earlier that day.
She was taken into custody but asked for a lawyer after the police probed her over the victim’s death.
Police obtained a warrant to test the woman’s blood-soaked body for DNA evidence.
Maks then requested a Diet Mountain Dew, which the police provided her with.
The police said that she then “poured the can of soda all over her body and hair… pulling away from officers in attempts to interfere with the possible evidence”.
The police said that the DNA on her clothing matched DNA taken from a knife found next to the victim’s body.
Maks is next set to appear in court on 5th September.
