Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda: Horror in classroom as teacher Barbara Lewis poisoned with sodium hydroxide

This week Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda examines the poisoning of teacher Barbara Lewis.

Colorado in 1994 and Cheyenne Mountain High teacher Barbara Lewis was rushed to hospital after she began choking whilst at the school where she taught . At hospital medics struggled to save her life as her badly burned throat started to swell up and block her airways. Doctors were forced to carry out emergency surgery after the educator’s esophagus became restricted to less than the size of a pen.

Detectives worked out that Lewis was poisoned in her classroom through the bottle of water she was drinking. Someone had put sodium hydroxide crystals in the bottle whilst it was unattended.

Sodium hydroxide is sometimes known as  lye or caustic soda and it can cause very severe chemical burns. It’s a strong alkali and readily dissolves in water, where it leaves no taste or smell.

Lt. Joe Kenda and the investigation team looked into Lewis’s personal life for clues as to who might want her dead but when the poison is identified their net draws in on the suspect.

17-year-old Scott Wade, a student at the school, was charged with two counts of  first-degree assault…

Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda airs on Wednesdays at 10:00 PM on Investigation Discovery.

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