Singaporean student accused of poisoning lab mates in US pleads not guilty

Former Stanford student Ouyang Xiangyu, 26, pleaded not guilty to four counts of poisoning her lab mates at the Palo Alto court on Friday. -- PHOTO: ASTAR WEBSITE
Former Stanford student Ouyang Xiangyu, 26, pleaded not guilty to four counts of poisoning her lab mates at the Palo Alto court on Friday. -- PHOTO: ASTAR WEBSITE

Former Stanford student Ouyang Xiangyu, 26, pleaded not guilty to four counts of poisoning her lab mates at the Palo Alto court on Friday.

This is the Singaporean A*Star scholarship holder's fifth court hearing since she was arrested on Nov 16 last year for poisoning the drinking water of two of her Stanford lab mates between September and November last year.

Ouyang, who has been expelled from Stanford University, is also accused of sabotaging a lab mate's experiments from mid-August.

Court documents reveal that the graduate student had allegedly been struggling with mental health issues, which she said started around September

She is currently out on bail and will return to court on Aug 3 for a readiness hearing, which would assess if the case is ready for trial, according to a spokesman from the court.

The preliminary hearing, where items of evidence and facts of the case will be presented, will occur on Sept 4.

Attempts to contact Ouyang and her lawyer for comment were unsuccessful.

simlinoi@sph.com.sg

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