In a bizarre and twisted crime, a woman in New York was accused of using cheesecake as a weapon to try to kill another woman who looked like her and steal her identity.
The case, which involved a Russian immigrant, a Ukrainian stylist, and a potent sedative, shocked the public and baffled the investigators.
The Plot
The plot took place on August 28, 2016, when Viktoria Nasyrova, a 47-year-old Russian woman who lived in Brooklyn, visited the home of Olga Tsvyk, a 35-year-old Ukrainian woman who worked as a beauty stylist in Queens.
The two women had met at the salon where Tsvyk did eyelash extensions for Nasyrova.
Nasyrova had been trying to befriend Tsvyk for a while, but Tsvyk felt uneasy about her.
She noticed that Nasyrova looked a lot like her, with dark hair, the same complexion and other similar physical traits.
They were also both Russian speakers.
On that day, Nasyrova called Tsvyk and asked her for an emergency eyelash repair.
Tsvyk agreed to help her and told her to come over.
Nasyrova showed up at Tsvyk’s door with three small slices of cheesecake from a famous bakery.
She said it was a gift for Tsvyk.
Nasyrova ate two of the slices herself and then urged Tsvyk to try the last one.
Tsvyk ate the cheesecake, which tasted strange to her.
She soon felt sick and passed out.
Her last memory was of seeing Nasyrova walking around her room.
The next day, Tsvyk was found unconscious in bed by a friend who came to check on her.
She was surrounded by pills, as if she had attempted to kill herself.
She was taken to a hospital, where she was in and out of consciousness for several days.
The Investigation
The case was assigned to Detective Kevin Rodgers, a veteran New York police detective who had never dealt with such a case before.
He interviewed Tsvyk at the hospital and learned about Nasyrova and the cheesecake.
He suspected that Nasyrova had poisoned Tsvyk with the cheesecake and staged the scene to look like a suicide.
He also learned that Tsvyk’s passport, work authorization card and other valuables worth more than $3,000 were missing from her home.
Rodgers sent the pills and the cheesecake residue to a federal lab for testing.
The results showed that they contained phenazepam, a highly potent sedative that is not approved in the United States but is widely used in Russia and other former Soviet countries.
Rodgers traced Nasyrova’s phone number and address and obtained a search warrant for her apartment.
There he found Tsvyk’s passport, work authorization card and other items that belonged to her.
He also found phenazepam pills and other evidence that linked Nasyrova to the crime.
He arrested Nasyrova in March 2017 and charged her with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault, second-degree assault, first-degree unlawful imprisonment and petit larceny.
The Trial
Nasyrova pleaded not guilty and claimed that she was framed by someone else.
She hired Jose Nieves, an attorney who argued that there was no proof that Nasyrova poisoned Tsvyk or intended to harm her.
Nieves also questioned the credibility of Tsvyk’s testimony, saying that she had memory gaps and inconsistencies due to the effects of phenazepam.
He suggested that Tsvyk might have taken the pills herself or that someone else might have given them to her.
The prosecution, led by Melinda Katz, the Queens County District Attorney, presented evidence that showed Nasyrova’s motive, means and opportunity to commit the crime.
Katz argued that Nasyrova wanted to steal Tsvyk’s identity because they looked alike and because Nasyrova was facing legal troubles in Russia.
Katz also showed that Nasyrova had a history of fraud, theft and deception in both Russia and the United States.
She had been accused of drugging and robbing men she met online, stealing from her ex-boyfriend’s dog, and fleeing from Russia after allegedly killing another woman who looked like her.
The jury deliberated for less than two hours and found Nasyrova guilty of all charges in February 2023.
The judge sentenced her to 21 years in prison, calling her “a ruthless and calculating con artist” who tried “to murder her way to personal profit and gain”.
The Aftermath
Nasyrova’s attorney filed a notice of appeal to challenge her conviction and sentence, citing her life circumstances, mental illness history, family support and traumatic experiences while living in the United States.
Tsvyk, who survived the ordeal, said she was relieved that Nasyrova was behind bars and that justice was served.
he said she hoped that Nasyrova would never hurt anyone again.
The case of the poison cheesecake was a rare and shocking example of how a seemingly harmless dessert can be used as a deadly weapon in a sinister plot to steal an identity.
It also showed how a determined detective can unravel a complex and twisted crime with the help of science and evidence.
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