Man Officially Charged in June St. Cloud Poisoning Death

(KNSI) – The suspect accused of fatally poisoning a man in St. Cloud in June has been charged in Stearns County District Court.

Stuart William Hanmer is alleged to have given his roommate a lethal dose of Thallium. A pharmacist called in to assist investigators told police there was no way for Cody Ray Ernst to have been exposed to such a high concentration of the poison except through ingestion.

The 33-year-old man was admitted to the University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis on June 20th and died two days later. According to the criminal complaint, it was the last of a series of incidents that could have been related to the poisoning. Ernst’s medical records show that he went to the emergency room at St. Cloud Hospital on May 16th after vomiting and suffering seizures.

He was readmitted a day later with new symptoms like numbness, burning, and tingling in his arms and legs. Ernst tried to leave the hospital on the 22nd of May against medical advice but was out for just a short time before collapsing from severe pain from his hips down.

Ernst then went to Mercy Hospital on May 23rd and was transferred to University of Minnesota Fairview. Staff there did a metal screening on Ernst on June 15th, where the Thallium poisoning was discovered.

Ernst lived with two other men in a house on the 400 block of 27th Avenue North in St. Cloud. One of the roommates was Stuart Hanmer. Investigators became suspicious and were able to get a warrant to seize two of Hanmer’s cell phones. They found searches related to Thallium in early April, including the phrase “how much thallium nitrate is fatal.”

Hanmer is alleged to have bought the metal for about $86 via PayPal, with two more purchases following soon after. He is also suspected of viewing a video online on how to make Thallium into a potent powder.

Hanmer was found in Moorhead on Wednesday and arrested. He is charged with second-degree murder.

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