A Brooklyn woman convicted of trying to poison her lookalike friend with a laced slice of cheesecake in order to steal her identity has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.
CBS New York’s Jesse Zanger reported the sentencing, which comes after Viktoria Nasyrova, 47, was found guilty of attempted murder back in February by feeding her friend cheesecake laced with a potent tranquilizer. Nasyrova’s plan was to murder Olga Syvk and steal her identity in order to return to her home country of Russia.
Prosecutors alleged that Nasyrova visited Syvk’s apartment in Queens back in 2016 with the cheesecake in hand, which caused Syvk to vomit and hallucinate but ultimately survive. Authorities then quickly found their way to Nasyrova, who at the time strongly resembled Syvk’s likeness.
“Law enforcement agents with Homeland Security tested cheesecake residue found in the container and confirmed the sweet treat was laced with phenazepam, a highly potent sedative,” prosecutors said at the time.
Svyk testified in court, saying in part of her former friend: “For her, it was an easy thing to try and take the life of another person. It was an easy thing to gain the trust of another person.”
"This is a bizarre and twisted crime that could have resulted in the death of a Queens woman, whose only fault was that she shared similar features with the defendant,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said at the time of the trial, adding that the alleged victim was found the next day with pills “scattered around her body” to make it look like a suicide."
Following Nasyrova’s arrest in 2017, it was revealed that she had previously been suspected of drugging and robbing men around the Brighton Beach neighborhood. Additionally, she was also reported to have been wanted in connection with an alleged 2014 murder in Russia.
