Rodney Williams, 20, was just due to be released from Sing Sing prison in New York three weeks before someone sprinkled Magic Shave powder into his drink.
The hair remover contains barium, which can be used to kill rodents in its soluble form, according to an expert called by Williams’ lawyers, Alan Fuchsberg and Elena Carter.
Williams repeatedly told prison officers that a fellow inmate had poisoned him but they waited hours to get medical help, a claims court judge said.
After three hours he was taken to the prison infirmary at around 5.45am but despite him vomiting and complaining of abdominal pain, he did not see a doctor until 8.45am, his lawyer said.
Williams died around 9.15am after hours of pain and suffering.
‘Had Williams received medical care in the morning hours of October 9, 2003, he would have had a significant chance of survival,’ Judge Jane Ruderman wrote.
