A "beloved" Christian school art teacher was arrested after she was allegedly caught on camera blending a heart-stopping poison into her husband's smoothie, Missouri police said Friday.
The man called authorities believing that an "unexplained illness" might have been "an intentional act of poisoning," according to a statement by Jefferson City police Lt. David Williams.
Earlier this month, the man installed a camera in the kitchen and recorded his wife mixing a smoothie with a root-like substance from a bag marked "lily of the valley," according to a probable cause statement.
Lily of the valley is a well-known poisonous flower that can cause great harm to people and animals who eat it.
Sarah Elizabeth Scheffer, 37, "admitted to adding items to the victim's food with the knowledge" that it would cause illness or even death, Williams said.
The woman, who taught art at Calvary Lutheran High School, had spiked the man's food with "numerous cardiac glycosides, which slow down the heart and cause irregular heart rhythm" and often bring about "nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain," the police spokesperson added.
She has been charged with attempted murder and armed criminal action. She's been ordered held without bail.
John Christman, executive director at Calvary Lutheran High School, was stunned by the allegations about the art teacher.
"She was a beloved teacher and did a wonderful job of growing the art skills of her students," Christman told NBC News on Friday.
"She was a well-loved teacher at our school. We felt and had seen the fruits of her investment in the students. She was able to encourage them to produce and always seemed to be engaged for all the right reasons."
Her criminal defense attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
Scheffer's father said the accusations came totally "out of the blue" and don't match the daughter he knows — a well-liked artist and teacher who volunteers to raise money for third-world health efforts.
"She's a decent person," Marcus Blaskie said about his daughter. "I don't think she could have done this, but I guess that'll just have to come out at trial."
