NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A young boy and his grandmother who died three months apart in 2021 were poisoned with thallium, sources and police said Thursday as their deaths in Brooklyn were ruled homicides.
The city medical examiner determined Wednesday that both 4-year-old Wilhelm Ducatl, of Brooklyn, and his grandmother, 63-year-old Tofoon Man, of Manhattan, died from poisoning in May and February of last year, respectively.
Their deaths were deemed homicides, police said.
Sources said both deaths have been attributed to poisoning by thallium, a highly toxic substance.
According to the CDC, thallium was used historically in rodenticides and pesticides but was banned for that use in the U.S. in 1975 due to its toxicity from accidental exposure. The tasteless and odorless metal hasn't been produced in the U.S. since 1984.
NYPD officers had responded to a 911 call at Ducatl’s home on 65th Street, near Dahill Road, in Bensonhurst on the morning of May 24, 2021. It's unclear who made the call.
He died at Maimonides Hospital two days later after he was admitted there in critical condition with stomach pains.
Police launched an investigation into the boy’s death after the medical examiner determined he may have been poisoned.
The investigation led authorities to exhume the body of the boy’s maternal grandmother so they could examine her.
She had died on Feb. 17, 2021, at Mount Sinai Brooklyn. Like her grandson, she’d complained of stomach pains at the home on 65th Street.
An examination of both deaths led authorities to believe they'd been poisoned.
No arrests have been made or suspects named amid an ongoing investigation, police said.
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