Rural newspaper owner poisoned with thallium

Joe Soldwedel

The co-owner of a small-town Arizona daily has been poisoned with what could have been lethal levels of thallium and other metals, probably deliberately. Joseph Soldwedel, who is also the co-publisher of The Daily Courier in Prescott, sought medical help after a lengthy unexplained illness. Medical toxicologists found dangerously high levels of thallium, lithium, aluminum, barium, and zinc in Soldwedel’s body, Richard Haddad reports for the Courier.

No other environmental factors would explain the presence of the metals in Soldwedel’s body. One of the nation’s leading toxicologists, Dr. Ernest Chiodo, wrote in his report that “The test findings are highly suggestive, but not confirmatory, of an intentional poisoning with an intent to kill.” Soldwedel, 65, is expected to recover.

Soldwedel sought to quash any rumors in the small community about the source of the poisoning. “While the newspaper owner said he has a good idea of who might be behind the possible deliberate poisonings, he does not want to make that information public until police and the county attorney have finished their review and potential charges have been filed or arrests made,” Haddad reports. “He did say that his son, daughter and lone sibling [sister] are in no way involved.”