Man charged with former roommate’s poisoning

A Fridley man is accused of fatally poisoning his former St. Cloud roommate with thallium, a heavy metal lethal to humans.

Stuart Hanmer, 35, was charged Friday in Stearns County District Court with one count of second-degree murder.

According to police and court records, Hanmer's former roommate, 33-year-old Cody Ernst of St. Cloud, went to the emergency room in May, suffering from vomiting, chest and abdominal pain and seizures. 

Ernst was hospitalized twice more, and eventually was transferred to M Health Fairview in Minneapolis. Medical staff determined he had a high level of thallium in his system. Ernst died on June 22.

A criminal complaint filed in court says investigators checked the Internet search history on Hanmer's phone, and found questions including, “how long does it take if thallium poisons you” and "how much thallium nitrate is fatal.”

The complaint says investigators also found online transactions that allegedly show Hanmer purchased thallium and had it delivered to his post office box.

Thallium was once commonly used as a rodent or insect killer, but its use for those purposes has been banned in the U.S. since 1972. It’s still used in electronics manufacturing.

Police arrested Hanmer Wednesday in Moorhead. 

At his first court appearance on Friday, a judge set his bail at $4 million with no conditions, or $2 million with conditions, including remaining law abiding and not using alcohol or controlled substances. His next court appearance is Sept. 19.