NEW SWEDEN, Maine -- Police are conducting tests to determine how 16 parishioners at Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church were poisoned with arsenic, killing one, The New York Times reported.
Investigators said it is too soon to rule out an accident, but are treating the death of Walter Morrill, 78, as suspicious.
They are focusing on coffee from one of two urns used during a church council meeting April 27. Investigators have ruled the arsenic was not naturally occurring and said those who became ill drank from the same urn. The state public health department said there was no trace of arsenic in the church's well, the Times reported.
The person who made the coffee also became ill, fueling speculation that the incident was accidental. The urn in question had not been used in some time, according to the report.
Police said they found traces of the poison on an object, "not expected to have arsenic," but declined to be specific
The Times reported that a few people mentioned the coffee tasted strange. Within a half hour, several began to feel light-headed and have stomach aches; some vomited.
Public health officials said Morrell, who reportedly only drank a half cup of the coffee, had already been in poor health. He died the following day.
