Poisoning plot revealed

The week's news at a glance.

Washington, D.C.

Cookies laced with lethal doses of rat poison were sent to all nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor revealed at a legal conference last week. Authorities confirmed that 60-year-old Barbara Joan March of Bridgeport, Conn., had sent parcels containing poison cookies or candy to the justices and a handful of other officials. Mail to government offices is routinely screened, and none of the officials received the packages. They were traced back to March, who had used the return addresses of former co-workers and others she considered her enemies. March pleaded to guilty to mailing dangerous substances and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Authorities say she did not intend to hurt anyone; each package included a letter warning that the contents were poisoned.

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