A woman whose colleague was convicted of poisoning her has released a hidden-camera video of the incident. This comes as the convicted coworker seeks to have his felony conviction dismissed by a judge.
David Xu, formerly a senior materials engineer at Berkeley Engineering and Research in California, poisoned his colleague, Rong Yuan, using cadmium over a period from 2017 to 2019, according to prosecutors. Cadmium is known as a toxic heavy metal.
Xu faced charges of premeditated attempted murder and two felony counts of poisoning. However, he accepted a plea deal for one count of poisoning, resulting in one year of probation. Xu pleaded ‘no contest’ to the charges as reported by the San Francisco Standard. During the 2024 sentencing, the judge extended his probation to two years, describing the plea deal as “extremely generous.”
“Extremely generous, considering everything in this case,” the judge said during sentencing.
Yuan has released the video featuring Xu allegedly pouring a substance into her water bottle just as he requests an Alameda County judge to dismiss his felony conviction.
The district attorney opposes Xu’s request; however, California law mandates judges to approve such dismissals if probation conditions are met.
Yuan expressed that sharing the video was a “last resort” in response to what she perceives as a failure of the legal system. She began her role at Berkeley Engineering and Research in January 2017. She recalls a tense initial interaction with Xu, where he barred her from using the firm’s material characterization lab.
“I just decided I will never overlap with him,” she stated, choosing to focus solely on her work.
Yuan experienced symptoms such as dry heaving and hair loss over a few weeks. Her symptoms intensified in July 2017 after drinking from her water bottle, leading her to feel as though she was dying.
By late 2018, frequent hospital visits led her to email her office about ongoing illness on November 27, 2018. Xu responded, advising her to work from home and suggested the office might have mold issues.
In January 2019, Yuan had an experience similar to before when drinking from her water bottle. This time, her mother also tasted the water, detecting something sour, alerting Yuan to possible tampering. She then purchased a spy camera from Amazon.
The camera was installed on her desk on February 11, 2019. The footage captured Xu at her desk reaching for her water bottle at 11:04 a.m. On March 4, 2019, another video showed him pouring a substance into the bottle.
“My blood was frozen,” Yuan remarked upon viewing the footage. “I almost died. I experienced death so, so close so many times. I cannot let him go.”
Yuan provided the video evidence to the Berkeley Police shortly after obtaining it. Xu completed his probation in March, but while he seeks to have his conviction expunged, it remains part of his record.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Xu’s legal counsel for comments.