Woman convicted in New York of plotting to kill look-alike with cheesecake

A Russian woman has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for trying to kill her look-alike in a bizarre identity theft plot in New York City.

Viktoria Nasyrova offered her beautician, Olga Tsvyk, a slice of poisoned cheesecake on August 28, 2016, before stealing the victim’s passport and work permit.

Upon learning of the sentence, Nasyrova, 47, cursed at the court judge in the Queens neighborhood.

One prosecutor called her a “ruthless, calculating crook”.

Nasyrova “goes to prison for a long time for trying to murder for profit and personal gain,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said on Wednesday.

The jury heard that, on the day of the attempted murder, Nasyrova came to Tsvyk’s Queens home with slices of cheesecake, a sweet cream cheese pie very common in the United States.

She ate two pieces herself and offered the third poisoned slice to the 35-year-old victim.

The eyelash stylist started vomiting and went to bed. She suffered hallucinations and almost had a heart attack.

A friend of Tsvyk’s found her unconscious the next day, her clothes changed into lacy lingerie and pills strewn across the floor, as if she had tried to take her own life.

The beautician was taken to the hospital, and when she finally returned home, her Ukrainian passport and US work permit were gone, along with jewelry and about $4,000 (R$20,100) in cash.

At the time, Tsvyk and Nasyrova were very similar, with dark hair and the same skin tone. Both speak Russian.

A powerful sedative called Fenazepam was detected in the remains of the cheesecake, and pills scattered on the floor contained the same drug.

Nasyrova, who lived in Brooklyn, was convicted in February of attempted murder, assault and unlawful imprisonment.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder described Nasyrova as “an extremely dangerous woman” who had hatched a “diabolical” scheme to attack a friend, according to the New York Post.

Tsvyk was allowed to speak in court before the sentence was read.

“It was easy for her to steal. It was easy for her to kill,” the victim said, according to the New York Post.

This isn’t the first time Nasyrova has been in trouble with the law.

In 2015, Interpol issued a notice for her arrest for the murder of a woman in Russia. The crime had taken place a year earlier. She is accused of killing the neighbor and stealing her savings.

Nasyrova, who US media reports is a former dominatrix [mulher que assume um papel dominante em práticas sexuais sado-masoquistas]was also accused of drugging and robbing men she met on dating sites.