31 January 2023 , 11:47
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A woman has been accused of trying to kill her lookalike friend with a poisoned cheesecake.
Viktoria Nasyrova, 45, from Brooklyn, US, wanted her doppelgänger Olga Svyk, a skin beautician, dead in order to run off with her identify, according to prosecutors.
During the opening trial, prosecutors claimed Nasyrova, a Russian fugitive, called her friend Ms Syvk after she suffered an eyelash emergency in August 2016.
She asked Ms Syvk to visit her home in Queens to come and fix her eyelashes.
The beautician obliged and visited her client.
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It was during this visit, Nasyrova allegedly offered her friend a cheesecake filled with phenazepam, a powerful tranquilliser which is only found in Russia.
When Ms Syvk ate two slices of the poisoned cheesecake she immediately got sick and started to vomit, according to a friend.
Viktoria Nasyrova is accused of trying to kill her lookalike friend with a poison cheesecake (Tamara Beckwith/NY Post/MEGA)Ms Syvk told the jury: "I started to look to lie down on the bed. I started to look for a pillow. I was realising that I was losing consciousness and I said to her, ‘Vika, I’m feeling really bad.’
"I started feeling very nauseous. I wanted to vomit. I started to vomit right by my bed onto the floor."
She was found by paramedics passed out with pills next to her, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors claim Nasyrova stole Tsvyk's passport and her cash and tried to make the incident look like a suicide attempt by scattering pills around her.
Assistant District Attorney Konstantinos Litourgis said: "Everything was done in this case very carefully and very methodically by this defendant… not only did she poison Olga in order to impersonate her… she also staged her bedroom to make it look like suicide.
Olga Tsvyk claims Nasyrova tried to kill her with a lethal cheesecake (William C Lopez/NYPost/MEGA)"She was hallucinating. She came to realise many of her valuables were gone from her room -- almost $4,000 in cash, a red purse, a cherished ring and, most importantly, her Ukrainian passport and her US-issued employment authorisation card."
Mr Litourgis said Nasyrova specifically picked Ms Syvk as a victim as she was her doppelgänger -they both had dark hair and the same skin complexion and both could speak Russian.
Prosecutors allege when police arrested Nasyrova she had the victim's passport in her belongings.
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Fugitive Nasyrova is wanted for the 2014 murder of Alla Alekseenko, 54, in Russia.
She fled Russia in 2014 while she was being investigated by Russian police for Alekseenko's alleged murder.
Nasyrova allegedly escaped Russia by having sex with a local police officer.
Nasyrova has denied the alleged crime (Tamara Beckwith/NY Post/MEGA)The Russian was said to be on the police's radar before allegedly poisoning her friend.
She was suspected of drugging men she met on dating apps in Brooklyn and robbing them, according to prosecutors.
Christopher Hoyt, Nasyrova's lawyer, said her client is not guilty of the alleged crimes.
Mr Hoyt said during an opening statement: "This is not an open-and-shut case. We are here today because Ms. Nasyrova is not guilty of these charges."
Nasyrova has denied she tried to poison her friend during an interview in 2017 with "48 Hours".
She said: "I know this young woman. I can tell you that I did not force her to eat it."
The suspect is charged with attempted murder along multiple other charges.
Nasyrova faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty.
The case continues.